Trans celebrities and activists have vowed to defy the Supreme Court‘s gender ruling by ignoring new rules on single-sex changing rooms.
A string of high profile figures from Britain’s trans community have used TV interviews and social media posts to brand the judgment ‘an attack’ and ‘blatant discrimination’.
The ruling that the definition of a woman in equality law is based on biological sex means trans women with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) can be excluded from single-sex spaces if ‘proportionate’.
The court’s decision, which has been hailed by women’s rights campaigners, is expected to have huge consequences for everything from bathrooms and changing rooms to prisons, refuges and sports teams.
Married at First Sight star Ella Morgan was among those criticising the unanimous finding of all five Supreme Court judges, as she vowed to keep on using female toilets.
The 31-year-old argued that trans people are now bearing the brunt of the damage caused by the likes of rapist Isla Bryson.
‘We are now the ones suffering and it affects us,’ she told Good Morning Britain. As a voice for the trans community since I have been in the public eye. I have always seen the good in everything and I have always been very positive.
‘I hate to say this, but for the first time since I have had that title and role I actually do feel nervous and scared not only for myself but for the community because it’s the unknown.
‘It’s been said but there’s not clarity. We are not sure exactly what is going to happen in terms of passports, toilets and gym changing rooms.’
Ant Lexa, who plays Abbi Montgomery in Netflix series Sex Education, described feeling ‘heartbroken’
Married At First Sight trans star Ella Morgan today said she feels ‘scared’ and ‘nervous’ after the Supreme Court ‘s landmark gender ruling
Ant Lexa, who plays Abbi Montgomery in Netflix series Sex Education, described feeling ‘heartbroken’.
Getting myself out of bed this morning was hard after receiving this news,’ she told Channel 4 News.
‘I am, first and foremost, a woman. That doesn’t feel like some political stance. It just feels like who I am. And it has always felt like who I am.
‘So not being recognised within law, especially a law that is designed to protect us, and that was why it was there, just feels terrifying.
‘Not even about today, but the precedent that it’s setting for not just the UK, but across the world. It just has left me feeling unprotected.’
Former Labour MSP candidate and trans campaigner Heather Herbert declared that she now felt ‘under attack’.
When asked for her reaction to the ruling which will have far-reaching implications for single-sex spaces, Herbert told BBC newsreader Martine Croxall: ‘Obviously I’m disappointed, no judge can tell me who I am.
‘If a judge was to tell you that you’re not a woman, that you’re a man, it wouldn’t change who you are, it wouldn’t change how you feel.’
Trans influencers voiced their opposition to the ruling with posts on social media
On social media, the decision sparked ire from one trans man, who questioned whether women would accept having them in women’s bathrooms instead.
‘Okay so do you want trans men in the women’s bathroom? Do you want ME in the women’s bathroom?’
The judgment by the UK’s highest court on Wednesday found that the definition of a woman in equality law is based on biological sex.
The court ruled that the words ‘sex’, ‘man’ and ‘woman’ in the Equality Act must mean ‘biological sex’, rejecting any alternative interpretations as ‘incoherence and impracticable’.
This means that transgender women with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) can be excluded from single-sex spaces if ‘proportionate’.
In handing down the court’s judgement, Lord Hodge said he recognised ‘the strength of feeling on both sides’ and cautioned against seeing the judgment as a triumph for one side over another, stressing that the law still gives trans people protection against discrimination.
He said: ‘The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological woman and biological sex.
‘In a judgement written by Lady Rose, Lady Simler and myself, with whom Lord Reed and Lord Lloyd-Jones agree, we unanimously allow the appeal.’
Heather Herbert, a trans campaigner and former Labour MSP candidate, provoked a furious response from Croxall after declaring: ‘I feel like I’m under attack’
Herbert previously performed dilation exercises following her gender reassignment surgery in a disabled toilet at Gatwick Airport in 2023 (pictured)
Lord Hodge added: ‘But we counsel against reading this judgement as a triumph for one or more groups in our society at the expense of another. It is not.
‘The Equality Act gives transgender people protection not only against discrimination through the protected characteristics of gender reassignment, but also against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, and harassment, in substance in their acquired gender.’
He recognised the ‘strength of feeling on all sides’ which lies behind the case, adding: ‘On the one hand women, who make up one half of the population, have campaigned for over 150 years to have equality with men and to combat discrimination based on their sex. That work still continues.
‘On the other hand, a vulnerable and often harassed minority, the trans community, struggle against discrimination and prejudice as they seek to live their lives with dignity.’
Their ruling also deemed that the certificated sex interpretation would have ‘rendered meaningless’ a section of the 2010 Equalities Act dealing with protection from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
This interpretation would mean ‘a trans woman (a biological male) with a GRC (so legally female) who remains sexually oriented to other females would become a same-sex attracted female, in other words, a lesbian’ and would lead to an ‘inevitable loss of autonomy and dignity for lesbians’ as well as impacting lesbian clubs and associations.
The judgment continues: ‘Read fairly, references to sex in this provision can only mean biological sex. People are not sexually oriented towards those in possession of a certificate.’
A Government spokesman said: ‘We have always supported the protection of single sex spaces based on biological sex. This ruling brings clarity and confidence, for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs. Single sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this government.’
