On the 11th of September 2025, UWE Bristol published changes to their trans and non-binary policy. Despite what is being claimed, students and staff were not properly consulted on this, they are lying about pressure from the EHRC, and the changes are much broader and much more concerning than they are being presented.

The University is claiming that these changes were made in response to a letter from the EHRC, threatening legal action if they didn't comply. This letter was sent in late August, however the updated policy document clearly states that it was created in July, a month before the letter and 2 months before any students or staff were made aware.

The document claims as part of their compliance measures the University engaged in "ongoing engagement with trans and non-binary communities". This is simply untrue. The University made no attempt to reach out to trans and non-binary staff or students prior to the changes being made public. There was a consultation opened after the changes went into affect, but it seems like little more than a cover to tick a box.

As far as we can tell, no trans people whatsoever were involved in making these policy changes.

What are the key changes?

You can view a deeper summary of the changes in this document: drive.google.com/file/d/1vNKAnhkLKeRL6m2-2YWE2Y4zW...

We'll detail a few of the more concerning ones here.

1: Removal of the word preferred from the statement allowing trans students access to facilities.

Implying appropriate facilities may not be the preferred ones.

2: The addition of the word "unlawfully" to the statement "The University recognises that to unlawfully 'out' someone (...) without their permission is a form of harassment"

The change is seemingly minor, but implies there is a lawful form of outing, and that the University wants to separate the two. Other changes that present safety and privacy concerns should be considered with this in mind.

3: They have removed all mention of name/gender change requests, as well as removing any requirement that curriculums must be trans inclusive.

This no longer being part of policy opens the door to bad actors ignoring their students identity under the guise of ignorance.

4: In their statement regarding guidance students can find from the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity Team, they have changed the word "anonymous" to "confidential"

This confirms that at some point this year the University has decided to collect information on students who consult this team in what can be very private, personal and emotional conversations on their transition. Collecting data on this is an overt breach of trust, and a flagrant disregard for the staff and students overseen by the University.

Even more disturbing is the lack of information on what information would be collected in these consultations. The open ended nature of “confidential” in an increasingly surveillant state is a threat that the University must answer for with clear, distinct categories of information that would be collected here.

5: The primary change for compliance with the EHRC, requiring all members of the University to only use facilities based on their assigned sex at birth, or gender neutral facilities.

The policy does state later on that this will not and cannot be policed by the University or by students, but this only raises further questions as to how any of this policy is expected to function, and the point of changing it in the first place.

What are we asking?

We are asking that UWE retract this policy change, and return to the drawing board, this time properly consulting trans and non-binary students and staff on the changes, as they have wrongly claimed to have done this time.

The EHRC guidance is not yet law, and they are not demanding immediate policy change, just a timeline for that change. The University has rushed this out with little to no regard for the safety or privacy of their students.

Sign this letter and join us in condemning the universities decision and demanding change.