When a university quietly rewrites its own policies, it usually signals something has gone seriously wrong. This autumn, the University of Leicester quietly made 30 amendments to its Trans-Inclusive Culture Guidance after Freedom in the Arts (FITA) challenged its legal accuracy in August 2025.
A Quiet Rewrite
The revisions, quietly published in October, added legal caveats advising organisations to seek independent legal advice, implicitly acknowledging that the original guidance, published in September 2023, was legally misleading. Yet publicly, Leicester continues to defend it as sound. The result is a document repeatedly altered to reduce legal exposure, yet still endorsing practices that risk contravening UK equality and workplace law.
Among the ongoing concerns:
- Organisations are still advised to require women and girls to share toilets with biological males, which may contravene Workplace Regulations and discriminate on the grounds of sex or religious belief.
- Staff holding gender-critical views risk discipline or harassment through compelled pronoun use, in potential violation of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 and the Education Act 1986.
- Gender-critical beliefs are still treated as suspect, and Leicester has provided no evidence demonstrating how the October updates comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty.
A Chilling Effect Across the Arts
FITA’s survey, Afraid to Speak Freely, illustrates the consequences. Hundreds of arts workers reported fearing professional repercussions for voicing gender-critical views. Many described being labelled transphobic, shunned, or bullied. About half of all respondents considered expressing any gender-critical opinion “dangerous.”
Leicester’s influence extends far beyond campus. As the UK’s leading university for museum studies, its guidance is being adopted by major institutions, including National Museums Liverpool, Museums Wales, National Museums Northern Ireland, the Royal Air Force Museum, and the Whitworth Art Gallery. The project, funded by The Art Fund, aims to advance trans inclusion. FITA offered to participate in reviewing and correcting the guidance following the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling, but the University rejected the offer.
The timeline is telling: FITA issued its first legal letter on 7 August 2025, demanding withdrawal of the guidance. The University denied wrongdoing on 4 September, yet quietly updated the guidance in October, removing the claim that it was “comprehensive,” introducing three legal disclaimers, and making 30 targeted edits, all related to FITA’s concerns. Nevertheless, Leicester continues to promote the guidance at conferences and in partnerships, without acknowledging the revisions or the original legal flaws.
The Need for Accountability
This is more than bureaucratic sloppiness; it reflects ideological capture, where legal caution has been sacrificed to dogma. Cultural organisations relying on guidance that remains legally flawed risk embedding discrimination into workplaces and museums.
FITA insists the remedy is clear: Leicester must withdraw the guidance, provide full evidence of compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty, and issue guidance that is lawful, inclusive, and respectful of all protected characteristics. Cultural institutions should be welcoming to all, not just those who pass an ideological test.
Alexandra Tompson
Editor | Lawyer (Admitted in New York; England & Wales)
