Tens of thousands of people took to streets on Saturday across the UK in protest against the “betrayal” of the trans community after a Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman.
The rally in central London is estimated by organisers to have attracted 20,000 demonstrators, while thousands more gathered in towns and cities up and down the country for dozens of other protests, with more planned in the coming days.
Trans rights groups, trade unions and community organisations came together for what was billed as an “emergency demonstration” in Parliament Square, with activists demanding “trans liberation” and “trans rights now”. Some waved flags and held banners, with placards stating “trans rights are human rights” and “trans women are women” seen among the signs being held aloft.
The protests have been organised in response to a long-awaited judgment delivered on Wednesday in which 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”.
Speaking to The Independent from Parliament Square on Saturday, Avery Greatorex, co-chair of Pride In Labour, which is one of the organisers, branded the ruling a “betrayal” of the trans community, and accused the Supreme Court of not including trans people in coming to its conclusion.
The 21-year-old, from Preston, said: “It feels like a betrayal, because we’re in a country that will boast about our equality and personal protections, that every person is their own individual and free to do as they wish – then we’re told by the state that the way we identify isn't a valid way to identify. It’s a betrayal by the courts, especially when they didn’t include trans people when coming to that ruling.”
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Speaking of her reasons for travelling to the capital to protest, she said: “We have come out today to pressure the government and the public to stand with the trans community, as right now all across the country there are lots of very scared trans people, because the implications of this ruling could be massive.”
The ruling means trans women cannot use single-sex female toilets, changing rooms or compete in women’s sports, according to the head of Britain’s equalities watchdog.
But Ms Greatorex also pointed to the “less obvious” but equally damaging consequences, especially those affecting members of the trans community who are already vulnerable. “There’s a lot of concern that people already needing support are now feeling that support being whipped away from them,” she said.
She cited the new barriers trans women could face accessing safe spaces like refuges. “Being unable to access these necessary refuges, that puts them at really great risk of the people who’ve made them victims,” she said.
Before the march, at least two statues were daubed with graffiti, with “f** rights” and a heart painted on the banner held by suffragette Millicent Fawcett, and “trans rights are human rights” sprayed on the pedestal bearing a memorial to South African military leader and statesman Jan Christian Smuts.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed it was investigating damage to seven statues.
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.
Ms Greatorex described the energy of the “absolutely ram-packed” crowd in London on Saturday as “incredible”, with “people in every direction”. She added that there is “a lot more anger and passion” than she has seen at previous protests.
Among the other groups supporting the London protest were Trans Kids Deserve Better, the Front for the Liberation of Intersex Non-binary and Transgender people (Flint) and TransActual.
A rally and march organised by Resisting Transphobia took place in Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon and drew a large crowd.
According to a list compiled by What the Trans!?, 38 demonstrations have been planned across the UK this month and next, including a protest outside the British embassy in the Netherlands.
Ms Greatorex said: “It’s an international push – it’s the same struggle wherever we are in the world. The solidarity is incredible.”
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