Back in time? The Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of a woman
In April 2025, the future of the Trans movement and the safety of Trans identities in the UK faced attacks from the Supreme Court, the highest court of the UK’s judicial system. On April 16th, it was ruled that the legal definition of a woman was now determined by a person’s biological sex. The Supreme Court specified this was for the sole purpose of the definition within the Equality Act and would not implicate general societal change. And yet, the case has already begun a series of questioning as to what this means for the civil rights of Trans identities. It is detrimental to many communities and individuals, in particular Transwomen who have been targeted the most by this change and has sparked protests across the UK since its enforcement. It is doing exactly what the Trans community feared most: imposing controlled binary norms of gender and silencing those who have identified with or found support from the trans movement.
The UK seems to be turning a corner that could be irreversible if taken too quickly. The future of non-normative identities in the UK is becoming frightening as the rise of transphobia is becoming dangerously rampant, bringing us closer to the ideals of Reform and MAGA. The questions being asked by young people aren’t being answered by the government or the representative bodies that are supposed to be protecting these communities, so let’s discuss how this has happened, what it means, and what you can do to support your Trans friends.
To understand the new enactment, lets return to 2018, when a Scottish bill was passed for the purpose of Gender Balance in the work place that ensured 50% of public boards would be women, including Transwomen.[1] It was seen as an ‘important step on our journey towards gender equality’ as said by Angela Constance, Equality Secretary at the time, ‘towards creating a fairer Scotland, and towards shattering the glass ceiling once and for all.’ The possibility of women on these public boards would encourage representation for women across Scotland, in and out of the workplace.
But TERF groups (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists), notably For Women Scotland, believed women that were non-heteronormative or biologically female at birth should not be included in this conversation or bill. A case was made against the position of Trans women in Scotland, and it was taken to the Supreme Court, ruling across the UK and finalised in April as what we know and fear today. These TERF groups raised over £230,000 to appeal to the courts, including £70,000 of that coming from JK Rowling towards For Women Scotland against Transwomen’s rights.[2] Despite this transphobia being disguised as a fight for women’s rights, these appeals don’t only affect Trans Women, they affect CIS Women too, as banning Trans Women from public spaces such as toilets, provokes the need to ‘prove’ you are a woman and encourages prejudices against appearances, assuming all women should look and act a certain way. These groups appropriate Women’s Rights and instead view Trans identities as a threat against their own gender identity, enforcing an establishment of ‘what a woman should be’ rather than defending every woman’s human right to live as she wants. On April 16th, the day the bill was passed, while hundreds of thousands of Trans women questioned the future of their safety, TERF groups were seen celebrating with champagne, and JK Rowling tweeted, smoking a cigar and drinking alcohol on her private yacht, ‘I love it when a plan comes together. #SupremeCourt #Women’s Rights.[3]
JK Rowling’s Twitter, April 16th 2025, and For Women Scotland celebrating ‘TERF VE Day’, as millions of women and hundreds of thousands of Trans Women question what this means for their future and their safety.
The Supreme Court stated that the intentions behind these new laws were to benefit the Equality Act and would not impact society and the UK’s idea of women. It is written that the EA 2010 Act ‘seeks to reduce inequality and to protect people with protected characteristics against discrimination’, recognising women as ‘having protected characteristics of [biological] sex, and ‘transexual’ people (the term used in the act) as having protected characteristics of gender reassignment.’ The law has not been changed and has not reduced any human rights, but it has made a huge stir in the discussion of ‘woman’ and what that means in the UK and to the UK government.
The change doesn’t directly enforce or attack trans rights, however the rise in Transphobia in the UK has risen since its enactment. Suddenly, Trans women are strip searched by male police officers on public transport, banned from female-only spaces, and scrutinised for their existence in the UK.[4] Transphobia is a public health crisis, as this enactment excludes Trans women from Domestic Violence refuges, addiction and homeless women centres, and hospital facilities, undermining the need for basic protection and security.[5] The dehumanisation of Trans women that is being carried out across the UK is only adding to its hostile, transphobic environment. Trans Women now feel an obligation to prove they are Trans or fit the requirements apportioned to their gender. The changes made do not benefit anyone and don't question what is meant by ‘woman’ but what is meant by femininity, distracting from the real threat to these female-only spaces: predatory men.
The reality is that predatory men will not undergo gender reassignment to attack women in these spaces, an arguably transphobic lie that was created to use Trans people as a scapegoat and avoids this real issue of violence against CIS women and Trans women. In fact, by enacting these interpretations of ‘man’ and ‘woman’, by the law’s definition, Transmen will now have to use female-only toilets because they are biologically female, increasing the risk of men entering these spaces and making women less safe. However, the simple fact is that the women using female toilets are not the problem; the problem is the casual violence inflicted upon women by men in the UK that has become alarmingly normalised and overlooked.
Trans-rights protest outside Parliament
However, the trans community has proved that they are willing to put up a fight. Parliament Square was filled with thousands of trans and non-binary people, and joined by allies, all gathered in protest the week after the judges’ ruling in April. Waving the blue, pink, and white flag in solidarity of the trans community, alongside banners that read “I am not free while any woman is unfree” and “Trans women are women”. The ruling is widely seen as a step back for LGBTQ+ rights and opens the door for exclusion and discrimination. Yet, the protesters showed strength in the community and proved that they won’t be silenced.
Many professional bodies and institutions have publicly come out in solidarity with the trans community. The British Medical Association (BMA) has put out a statement which reads “sex and gender are complex and multifaceted aspects of the human condition and attempting to impose a rigid boundary has no basis in science or medicine while being actively harmful to transgender and gender diverse people.” [6] The BMA alongside many university centres across the UK, have condemned the judgement.
How can you help? Trans-led charities such as Mermaids UK, which supports trans, non-binary, and gender-diverse children, young people, and their families, are calling on donations, fundraisers, and volunteers to help their work and to spread awareness. You can also contact your local MP and raise awareness online. Being an ally goes a long way, the importance of being educated, kind and using respectful dialogue doesn't go unseen. Trans rights are human rights.
Written by Lila Cooksley, edited by Valentina Milne & Serena Chamberlain