The implementation of gender equality policies in universities is a power struggle between actors that resist implementation and gender equality actors that seek to put equality into practice. A crucial resource to counteract resistances is the leveraging of legislative mandates. The article analyses, firstly, the approaches to gender equality contained in legislation on gender equality in universities. Secondly, it examines the interpretation and discursive use of the legislation by key actors responsible for gender equality policy implementation in four Spanish universities across different regions. We argue that despite a predominant women approach to gender equality in legislation, implementing actors in universities strategically use the legislation in ways that create discursive opportunities for gender implementation. Intersectionality is still absent both in the legislative framework and in the implementing actors’ discourses. The agency of gender equality actors activates the legislative framework to perform three pivotal functions for policy implementation: negotiation of gender equality in implementation processes, legitimization of gender action, and compelling compliance.