Trans+ Context: 12 Months of Chaos

I often forget that if you exist outside the trans community, you might not know what the last year has been like for us.

With Trans Day of Visibility coming up at the end of the month, we need to explore this. So that if you aren’t aware, you can be, and if you are, you can share an effective resource with people who aren’t!

The Supreme Court

In April last year, the UK’s Supreme Court handed down judgment in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers. The case concerned how the terms “man”, “woman” and “sex” should be interpreted in the Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010) in light of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA). They ruled that the EA 2010 meant that “man”, “woman” and “sex” were references to biological sex (meaning “the sex of a person at birth”).

The judgment has not changed the law. It gave an interpretation of the legislation as enacted. It is also worth noting that this ruling also affects intersex people, whose biological sex may be different to their gender identity.

For Women Scotland

The group that brought this case, For Women Scotland, are a gender critical group; they assert that women are defined by biological sex. One of their biggest Supporters is JK Rowling, who donated £70,000 in support of this legal challenge.

The law didn’t change - but it changed attitudes - from silent, to very loud prejudice. Many organisations decided to view this ruling as law, and altered who could access single sex spaces. Places of work, gyms, and women’s charities - all decided to start banning trans people from spaces other than what their ‘biological’ sex aligned with.

EHRC Medling

On 25 April 2025, nine days after the Supreme Court decision, the EHRC (the body that governs the UK’s equality laws) released updated interim guidance. They said that trans people could be excluded from single sex spaces - in some cases - but most people decided that it meant always.

Towards the end of the year, the WI and the Girl Guides also followed suit, using this ruling & EHRC guidance to affect trans women, young and old. Several outdoor swimming groups tried to ban trans women, but have been unsuccessful.

Can we Fix this?

This guidance was full of legal issues, and the Good Law Project have been fighting the guidance in court. A ruling was made last month, which said the guidance will need to be rewritten, but ultimately said the exclusion of trans people isn’t unlawful.

There is more detail and events, but as you can see, so much is happening to trans & intersex people. We haven’t been involved in the discussions and choices that have been forced upon us.

Share Knowledge

If you were unaware of what has happened just in the last 12 months, you may have been surprised at how tired, frustrated, angry, and upset trans people are. Hopefully, this has shown you just how unfairly weighted the scales are when it comes to the treatment of trans+ & intersex people.