This week has seen terrible news for the Transgender community in the UK. Two national institutions have told their members that they are no longer welcome to be part of their organisation.
Girlguides and Women’s Institute have stated that they’re an inclusive organisation. However, they have excluded Transgender people from their institutions. They believe that they are observing the law.
In April 2025, a Supreme Court ruling mentioned that they referring to Sex in the Equality Act is biological sex. This is the wrong cause of action because biology is not just one thing. Anyone who studied GCSE science will know that biology is made up of so many different strands. To claim that biology is something that only applies to what is in-between someone's legs is counterproductive. Some intersex people don't know that they're intersex until later in life. How can they make that decision when they don't know.
When the judge read out his verdict, he did not tell organisations and institutions that they need to remove Transgender people immediately. In fact he didn’t tell them to remove anyone. He just simply said that when referring to Sex in the Equality Act 2010, it is referring to biological sex.
The law hasn't changed since the court ruling. People with gender critical views claim that the changing of the law is taking far too long. Instead of waiting for the law to change, they’re targeting both public and private organisations and demanding they exclude trans people from their organisation.
With donors funding their hateful campaign, the two organisations feel that they can't afford to fight back against them. The voice of the many have low funds against the voice of a few that have billionaires backing them.
There is also another group of people who are to blame for causing distress for the organisations. That is EHRC, Equality and Human Rights Commission. These are the people who are meant to be looking after human rights in the UK. With people with gender critical views allowed to speak to them directly, people who are transgender inclusive don't get to have their say.
Without doing any diligence, the EHRC release interim guidance within 48 hours of the verdict. Without gathering people’s verdict, they put out guidance that was illegal. They had to remove this guidance and follow the letter of the law. Once they followed the law, they still had to remove it again because it wasn’t compatible with UK law.
This waiting around has caused untold damage, lasting trauma and deaths of innocent lives. With no end in sight, more innocent lives are going to be lost. The likes of these organisations should be sticking up for transgender people and not excluding them.
When will trans voices get heard?
Thank you for reading.
Melissa (She/they)
Founder of In Queer Company Ltd