Growing debate and support
The case is covered extensively by the media with influencers saying that the story was reaching new audiences who had never engaged with these issues before. The issue becomes a topic of debate in the run up to the election with a number of politicians being unable to answer the questions: What is a woman? Can women have penises? David Lammy even says that men can have uteruses.
The story goes viral with influencers comparing the nurses to the Ford Dagenham women.
Times’ columnist Janice Turner then put the then shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, on the spot asking him:
“It would be very useful to know if @wesstretting could clarify whether he supports these nurses, forced by their trust to undress in front of a male. Self-ID in practice means basic social norms protecting women’s safety and privacy are abandoned because male feelings matter more.”
J.K. Rowling re-posts it.
Will Wes respond?
In response, he says:
“I support the nurses and I’m horrified that they’ve had to resort to legal action. We’ve got to find a better way through this and I’d be happy to meet them. We’ve got to find a way through that treats trans people with respect and respects.”
Meanwhile at the hospital… despite building public and media support and outrage, NHS bosses dig in instead of simply resolving the issue.
This now infamous sign appeared on the female staff changing room door.
The nurses asked management for answers…none are ever given, but the sign is eventually taken down.
The NHS then implement what they describe as a ‘temporary’ solution. Any female member of staff who has a problem with getting undressed in front of a man can get changed in a converted office.
The office opens onto a public corridor and clinical area. At first there were no lockers and the nurses had to put their belongings on the floor.
The nurses say the move ostracised, humiliated and dehumanised them.
‘Rose’ continued to use the female changing rooms. 11 months on and the nurses are still using this ‘temporary’ office to change in.
Cards of support flood into the hospital. One says: “THANK YOU for your bravery and for making a stand to protect women and girls. We are all so grateful to you. The world is watching.”
In October 2024, the Darlington nurses travel to Westminster to meet the now Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, to discuss their case. During the 45-minute meeting, Mr Streeting said that he believes single-sex spaces matter and that something has ‘gone wrong in our society’ on these issues. Stating that the issue of why single-sex spaces are so important to women has not been ‘taken seriously enough’, he added that ‘we have created an unnecessary conflict’ and that society has moved backwards on equality. Concluding the meeting, he said that the nurses had given him a lot to think about and he said: ‘We’ve got to deal with this.’
Since first raising concerns, the nurses had received no support from any unions. After meeting Wes Streeting, the President of Unison, which has a 70% female membership, said the health secretary was ‘pandering to anti-trans bigotry.’ J.K Rowling waded in… Steve has recently been suspended by Unison for an undisclosed reason…
The lack of support demonstrated that the biggest unions are no longer prepared to take a stand for women’s safety on these issues…So the nurses launched their own union. The first of its kind, The Darlington Nursing Union (DNU) is dedicated to protecting the dignity of women in the workplace. It already has almost 10,000 followers on X and has been featured extensively in the media.
Now, you would think in a sane world that BBC Woman’s Hour would support the Darlington nurses, or at least, would not be extremely hostile… Listen, however to this interview with nurse Bethany Hutchison, who brilliantly stood her ground after being attacked by presenter, Nuala McGovern, for being a Christian and for believing that humans cannot change their sex. The interview went viral, with a flood of complaints in support of Bethany made to the BBC. The BBC complaints team maintained that they had been completely impartial.
In January 2025, legal proceedings began with a last-ditch attempt by the Trust to have media reporting restrictions placed on the identity of ‘Rose’. Due to the principle of Open Justice, the nurses resisted. The judge rejected the application, concluding: “I am not satisfied that [the Trust] or [Rose] have established a case which meets the threshold for granting an order, or that any such order would be proportionate.”
As well as meeting Shadow Equalities Minister, Claire Coutinho, the Darlington nurses again travelled to Westminster in March 2025 to meet Leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch. She released the following statement and committed to writing to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) about their case: “A woman should never be forced to get undressed in the presence of a man. The case of the Darlington Nurses is yet another example of women being demonised and patronised for raising legitimate concerns about single-sex spaces.
“I fought against gender ideology in government, and I will continue to do so as Leader of the Opposition. There is no place for gender ideology in the NHS. These brave nurses have my full support in their fight to restore common sense to an environment where single sex spaces should be non-negotiable.”
She then also discussed the case on the floor of the House of Commons. Baroness Claire Fox also raised the case in the House of Lords.
A couple of days after this meeting and commitment, the Royal College of Nursing appeared prompted to write to the Darlington Trust telling them that they are acting unlawfully and need to provide single-sex changing facilities ‘without delay’.
A matter of days after this letter was sent to the Trust, a preliminary employment tribunal hearing was scheduled to take place in Newcastle.
The nurses walk into court for the first time.
”Only want to be afforded the dignity of getting dressed without a man present”
The hearing reveals that ever since the launch of the case, the Trust has failed to comply with the tribunal’s timetable and directions. Despite having 18 months to investigate the nurses’ claims, and 10 months since the launch of their legal claim, the Trust made another application to adjourn the hearing, claiming it had not had enough time to complete its internal investigation.
Judge Robertson said the Trust had ‘failed’ , that its actions were ‘wrong’ and had ‘subordinated [employment tribunal proceedings] to an independent investigation.’
Nonetheless, the judge controversially gave them the adjournment with full tribunal proceedings delayed until October 2025.
The day after this hearing, instead of complying with the RCN’s order, the Trust instead re-published the policy which allows men to access female changing rooms.
In April 2025, the Supreme Court delivered its landmark ruling on the For Women Scotland ‘What is a Woman’ case.
Despite meeting the nurses in October, Mr Streeting had said in a letter that he could not take concrete and lasting action until he had direction from the Supreme Court.
Following the ruling, he spoke to The Sun promising new guidance in what was described as a big win for the Darlington nurses. He said:
“I want to make sure that the NHS is upholding the sex based rights of women who work for the NHS as well as women who use the NHS…I don’t want to see a situation where NHS staff are having to drag their employers through courts and tribunals to uphold their rights.”
Weeks have passed, however, with no action, rumours of delay and many institutions declaring that they are going to ignore the Supreme Court ruling.
Then, one Darlington nurse, who had been anonymous since the start of the case, said she was wanted to tell her full story to the media. Karen Danson spoke about how the presence of a man in the changing room had triggered her experiences of childhood abuse. She described how she had had panic attacks and flashbacks to trauma after being repeatedly asked alone in the changing room by ‘Rose’ if she was ‘getting changed yet’.
Despite raising her story, she has been ignored by the hospital and Trust. It has even been revealed the hospital would have forced her to have ‘Rose’ assist in her gynaecology operation, but for an intervention by Christian Legal Centre lawyers. See more and watch Karen speak.
Big questions remain
