On April 16th 2025, just over a month after International Women’s Day, it was announced that trans women would no longer be legally classified as women. In their Press Report, they said that the reason behind the judgement arose from three laws: The Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) of 1975, interpretation of the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) 2004, and an interpretation of the Equality Act (EA) 2010.
This was a dark day for many trans women who just want to live their lives, and be taken seriously, as the women that they are. It has come as a shock to older trans people, who have lived more of their lives as their authentic selves than their younger trans peers (generally speaking). The LGBT community is in a state of shock, and many are scared about what comes next.
So, how and why did this even happen to begin with?
A challenge was brought up by the organisation For Women Scotland, who the UK Supreme Court defines as ‘a feminist voluntary organisation which campaigns to strengthen women’s rights and children’s rights in Scotland.’ This indicates that they do not see any issue with the harmful agenda (certainly for trans people) set out by For Women Scotland. It has been reported that JK Rowling (JKR), a wealthy and powerful figure due to the titanic success of her children’s fantasy series, Harry Potter, donated £70,000 to fund this court case. She also released a Tweet afterwards, reading ‘I love it when a plan comes together. #SupremeCourt #WomensRights.’
It soon became apparent, that she pushed this case through with her power and influence, although For Women Scotland is also at blame here. In their ‘About’ section, they claim to be ‘a grassroots women’s group founded in June 2018 amid growing unease about how women’s rights would be affected by the Scottish Government.’ This ‘growing unease’, and JKR’s donations, have led to a ruling that will undoubtedly have a significant detrimental impact on trans women in the UK , and which sets their fundamental human rights back.
Changes have already been announced
Trans people have now been officially banned from using the services aligned with their gender identity. Although Pat McFadden claims that there allegedly ‘isn’t going to be a toilet police’, many trans activists call this law ‘incredibly dangerous’ for a number of people, not just trans women, but trans men and cis women, too. Even though there is not going to be a toilet police (or so we are told), the British Transport Police have amended their strip search rules amidst the UK Supreme Court Ruling. This means that same sex searches will now be on the basis of biological sex, as assigned at birth, as opposed to the gender identity which trans women actually identify with. It has been argued online that cis women may be strip-searched by male police officers if they supposedly ‘look trans’, and this would not just impact trans women, but it matters regardless.
To add to this, the Women’s Football Association (FA) in England, has now banned trans women from participating in the sport, following on from this ruling, just as the Scottish Football Association has done too. This has apparently come just a month after they said that trans women were allowed to participate in the sport if their testosterone level had been lowered to 5nmol/L for at least 12 months, with this U-turn most likely occurring due to the recent court ruling. This seems especially wrong, given how many women from the LGBTQ+ community both enjoy and play football. These new rules are absurd, and entirely unacceptable in a society that is supposed to be diverse and accepting.
Audi alteram partem
Fortunately there are people fighting this ruling, with The Good Law Project having already raised £127,000 out of £150,000 to contest it in court. They also released a statement saying: ‘the most important (rule in law) – is audi alteram partem, that both sides should be heard. You don’t actually need to be a lawyer to know it’s important. In our bones we all know it’s impossible for fairness to happen without hearing both sides of the story. Except that the Supreme Court forgot.’
They go on to point out that the case ‘was brought by an organisation that doesn’t believe trans women are women’, and who are backed by similarly anti-trans charities, such as Scottish Lesbians, the LGB alliance, and The Lesbian Project. They add that ‘The result (of the ruling) – as every trans person knows – is an epidemic of suicide.’ They end their statement by stating ‘we won’t stop fighting.’ And their fundraiser makes this obvious.
Appeals by a trans judge and charities
Alongside this, the UK’s first trans judge, Victoria McCloud, is appealing to the European court of human rights over the ruling, on the grounds of it being an infringement of human rights for herself (and by extension, her fellow trans women). Several pro-trans charities have also made similar statements in light of what has happened. Trans Actual said:
‘Trans communities are devastated’ by the ruling, and rightfully say that ‘The Supreme Court chose not to hear from any trans people, preferring instead to listen to exclusionary groups. As a result, instead of bringing clarity, the Supreme Court has made a ruling which appears to contain a number of contradictions. Irrespective of the small print, the intent seems clear: to exclude trans people wholesale from participating in UK society.’ Many of us can see this. They went on to echo similar sentiments to that of The Good Law Project, stating that trans people have come through worse before and are not going away. Whatever the world throws at us, we will be back, each time, stronger and bolder than before.’
Stonewall, the charity founded upon LGBTQ+ rights, and whose name is based off the infamous Stonewall riots of June, 1969, said the following: the ‘ruling was deeply upsetting, but we want you to know that trans people remain protected against discrimination under the Equality Act, that doesn’t change – and it won’t stop Stonewall from fighting for a world where all LGBTQ+ people are free to be themselves.’ Simon Blake, Stonewall CEO, acknowledged that the ‘ruling from the Supreme Court will be incredibly worrying for the trans community and all of us who support them.’ They also reassure the UK LGBT community – and in particular the UK trans community – by stating: ‘Stonewall will continue its work with the Government and parliamentarians to achieve equal rights under the law for LGBTQ+ people.’ Blake affirms that ‘We will keep challenging attacks on our rights. We will keep standing up for trans people. And we will never stop pushing for equality.’
They end by saying, ‘if you are feeling impacted by (the) news, we want you to know that you are not alone. You are part of a community that will continue campaigning and fighting for equality.’
The future is scary – what can we do?
The future for trans people looks uncertain, and is, for many, quite scary. I am a member of the LGBTQ+ community and have friends who are trans. I am very concerned about the wider implications this will have, both within the trans community, and outside of it. These new rules will impact many people, and the rights which our community fought so hard to achieve in the first place have been repealed. But this does not mean that this is over, far from it.
As The Good Law Project, Trans Actual and Stonewall pointed out: we are not alone, and we will keep fighting for trans equality. Do whatever you can. Speak out. Donate. Go to demos and protests. Show the government that we will not stop until trans women are legally classified as women once again, or until equality is truly achieved. Donate. Join protests.
Let the UK government know that we will not stop fighting for equality – no matter what.
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