Status: 🔴 Group of eight nurses who, backed by Christian Concern and amplified by Sex Matters, won a tribunal ruling that allowing trans women to use women's changing rooms constitutes harassment of cisgender women — a landmark for the UK anti-trans movement.
The "Darlington Nurses" refers to eight nurses at Darlington Memorial Hospital who sued their employer, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, over its policy allowing a transgender woman colleague to use the women's changing rooms. The lead claimant was Bethany Hutchison.
The case — Bethany Hutchison and others v County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust — was supported by the Christian Legal Centre, the litigation arm of the anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-abortion organization Christian Concern, and was documented and amplified by Sex Matters.
The nurses claimed sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation, arguing the trust's policy of allowing trans staff to use single-sex changing rooms, toilets, and showers matching their gender left them feeling "unsafe." They also cited a right to privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
On January 16, 2026, an employment tribunal issued a mixed judgment:
The ruling effectively requires the NHS trust to institute segregation of trans staff in changing rooms. It directly contradicts two other rulings — the Sandie Peggie tribunal in Scotland and the Maria Kelley case against Leonardo — which held that trans inclusion in single-sex spaces did not constitute harassment or unlawful discrimination.
The Darlington Nurses case is a key victory for the UK anti-trans network, linking Christian Concern and Sex Matters to the broader "gender critical" movement. The nurses described the ruling as a "massive vindication" and "victory for common sense."