Download Festival’s trans bathroom access policy sparks controversy : Witch Fever, NOAHFINNCE and Pinkshift call for change

Download Festival is set to be held at Donington Park, Leicestershire, England, from June 13, 2025, to June 15, 2025. The festival recently intimated their decision to follow the newly announced Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidelines regarding the prohibition of trans people from using their preferred gender facilities via what appears to be an email reply:

"We will be following the interim guidance issued by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on 25 April 2025 here. Their guidance 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."

This decision by Download Festival has sparked backlash from acts such as trans singer NOAHFINNCE, who took to X to condemn the festival's decision to follow the EHRC guidelines:

"Hey what the f**k are you doing. How have you got the gall to invite trans people like me to play your festival and then ban them from using the toilet? If the only way we can piss is by outing ourselves then you’ve created an unsafe environment…"

Witch Fever also spoke out against Download Festival's decision, as per a report by NME on May 27, 2025, stating in an Instagram page story in response to a fan question that they hoped that the policy would be reversed:

"The threat to trans people’s safety by forcing them to enter toilets that are assigned to a gender that they don’t associate with is a complete f***ing tragedy. We are hoping this decision gets changed."

The band Pinkshift has also spoken out against Download Festival's decision, stating:

"what fuc***g music festival polices gendered bathrooms?? crazy, unsafe, disrespectful, dangerous, and a slap in the face to all the queer and trans artists and fans who bring their creativity and innovation to the alternative music space every day."

Download Festival has responded to the backlash

In an X post on May 28, 2025, on their official X account, Download Festival has responded to the backlash surrounding its decision to follow the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC):

"At the heart of Download is acceptance – we stand with all members of our community and want everyone to feel safe, supported and welcome at the festival. We want to reassure all of our customers that at Download, the majority of toilets will be gender neutral and available to all."

The statement by Download Festival continues:

"There will also be single s*x toilets provided. Download Festival has always been and remains for everyone. We sincerely apologise that a previous communication on this was not clear. We are looking forward to seeing you at Download this year."

The ECHR guidelines are the culmination of a series of rulings that have jeopardized trans rights in the UK, according to a report by Dazed. The issue started with a Supreme Court ruling that codified the word 's*x' in the UK Equality Act to refer to 'biological s*x' or birth gender.

This was then followed by Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson stating on record that the ruling meant that trans women should use the toilet of their birth-assigned s*x. The ECHR issued guidelines that do exactly that, prohibiting trans women from using women's facilities and prohibiting trans men from using men's facilities.

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Facilities include toilets, changing rooms, and so on. The UK transport police have also now issued guidelines under which trans women will be strip-searched by male officers, as per a Sky News report on April 17, 2025.

Both the Supreme Court ruling and the new ECHR guidelines have been facing significant backlash, including in the music community. Artists including Charli XCX and Self Esteem, as well as hundreds of others, have spoken out against it, including by signing open letters.

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