Download Festival partially rolls back plans to ban trans people from toilets

TL;DR: The festival confirmed it will not police toilets, after facing backlash for adopting the EHRC’s interim update, which isn’t legally binding and is currently facing a judicial review.

Download Festival has released a statement in an attempt to clarify its position on the Supreme Court ruling and subsequent interim update from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

It previously said they would be “following the interim guidance issued by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)” which “states that ‘trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use the women’s facilities and trans men (biological women) should not be permitted to use the men’s facilities’”.

However, after backlash from fans, bands and sponsors, the festival confirmed that bathrooms will not be policed in this manner. It went as far as to apologise for the lack of clarity in its previous communication — Kerrang

In a statement, the festival said “We want to reassure all of our customers that at Download, the majority of toilets will be gender neutral and available to all. There will also be single sex toilets provided. Download Festival has always been and remains for everyone” — NME