Thousands of trans rights protesters have taken to the streets of Edinburgh following the recent Supreme Court ruling on the legal definition of a woman.
Demonstrators waved flags and signs and chanted slogans in the spring sunshine as they gathered at the foot of the Mound, in the heart of the Scottish capital, before marching to the UK Government offices at Queen Elizabeth House.
Speakers addressed the crowd using megaphones, and led the demonstrators in chants that included “Trans rights are human rights” and “When trans rights are under attack, what do we do? Fight back”.
Meanwhile members of the crowd waved placards emblazoned with slogans including “Trans women are women”, “Autonomy for every body”, and “One is not born but rather becomes a woman”.
The rally and march was organised by Resisting Transphobia, and took place alongside similar events elsewhere in the country on Saturday.
Lauren Yeoman, 38, said she was taking part in the demonstration because she was “disgusted” at what she said amounted to the removal of trans people’s human rights.
Describing how she felt when she learned of the Supreme Court ruling she said: “I felt sick to be honest. I think we’re taking a lot of backward steps.
“It feels like every day women are being attacked, minorities are being attacked, and the real problem is being ignored, and we’re pointing fingers at people who aren’t harming anybody, such as trans people, while ignoring the real problems.”
She added: “Look at the real problems. It’s not trans people. Show me figures that show trans people are a danger to us, because I don’t think there are any.”
Katelyn Collins, 44, said she was taking part in the march to give “moral support, emotional support” to other transgender people.
She said of the ruling: “I found it shocking, the fact that they’re picking on us, and it should not happen.
“I was disgraced with it but it didn’t bring me down, because I’m proud to be who I am.”
She called on those in power to: “Let people be. Let people live who they want to be, let people be who they want to be. Life’s far too short.”
68-year-old Tirion Dickson attended the march holding a sign reading “Grans for trans”, which she explained had been made for her by her daughter-in-law.
The retired NHS worker said she was taking part to “give support” to the trans community, and said people of her generation should “know better”.
“I hope in my lifetime that this group of people will be as accepted as other minority groups have been over time since the 1960s,” she said.
“I just really would say to people ‘why spread hatred?’. They are lovely people. They’re gentle, lovely people and I don’t see any need to hate them.
“I don’t see any threat to women whatsoever, they’re a group of vulnerable people, they constitute 0.01(%) of the population, so what is the problem?”
Meanwhile Brianna Burt, 34, said she was taking part because she was “enraged” at the Supreme Court ruling, which she said would harm the rights of “all minority groups”.
“Trans women are women, and I’m enraged at the ruling by the Supreme Court, and I want to make sure that the media is covering it accurately because the coverage so far has been atrocious,” she said.
She added: “(The) future rights of all women and all minority groups is in jeopardy and we need to speak up about it and get the media to cover it properly.”
The demonstration came after Wednesday’s ruling by the UK’s highest court, which 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”.
