Protesters campaigning for trans rights have gathered in central London demanding “liberation” and “trans rights now”.
Supporters, trade unions and community organisations came together for what was billed as an “emergency demonstration” which started in Parliament Square before heading towards St James’s Park. Some were spotted waving flags and holding banners which read “No feminism without trans women” and “Biology is not binary”.
In a long-awaited judgment delivered on Wednesday, the UK’s highest court confirmed the terms “woman” and “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act “refer to a biological woman and biological sex”.
This means transgender women with a gender recognition certificate can be excluded from single-sex spaces if “proportionate”. Britain’s equalities watchdog says the ruling means trans women cannot use single-sex female toilets, changing rooms or compete in women’s sports.
The Government said the unanimous decision by five judges brought “clarity and confidence” for women and service providers, while a Labour Party source said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had brought the party to a “common sense position” on the subject from an “activist” stance.
A spokesperson for Trans Kids Deserve Better said: “The transmisogyny that led to this court ruling is unacceptable.Though this ruling has brought another wave of fear to the trans community, we will continue to fight for our rights and freedoms. When you attack trans women you attack all trans people and all women. Our rights do not oppose each other, they go hand in hand, and we will keep fighting until we’re all free.”
Avery Greatorex, co-chair of Pride in Labour, told the PA news agency: “The protest was organised to put pressure on the Government, on the public to act. To be able to secure the rights of transgender people and to secure those protections, we need legislative power and we need lobbying power.”
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