Let me begin this post by telling you that I’m now into my third hour of sitting with my laptop open in front of me, staring at the screen. My head is a tornado of things I want to say, points I want to make and feelings that I desperately want other people to understand. But when I try to get them down in writing, they all rush together and form a bottleneck so that nothing comes out at all.
My heart physically hurts. It feels heavy with sadness, fear and anxiety. It’s not just an imagined feeling either – I wear a heart rate monitor and for the last half an hour it’s flashed warnings at me, telling me that I’m in my Exertion Zone even though all I’ve been doing is sitting here on my bed – reading comments from strangers on the internet.
The fear and overwhelm are incredibly raw and real. The threats to the trans community, of which my own child belongs, are no longer just perceived – they are more and more real every single day.
In the last 2 weeks alone, I’ve read news from the USA that transgender people can no longer safely enter the country if their passports have a gender marker that doesn’t match their sex at birth. I’ve read that Hungary has made Pride gatherings illegal. And now our own supreme courts have ruled that the term “woman” under the Equality Act applies only to people born female – this happened less than 72 hours ago and already there have been changes and proposed changes to policies that will put trans people directly in harms way right here at home.
I’ve felt helpless watching all of this unfold. I’ve tried to argue for logic and humanity in comments sections only to be met with wilful ignorance. I’ve posted about the impacts of these things on my own social media pages only to be with apathy.
I told myself that it was pointless to write a blog about it, because there are far better writers than me putting think pieces and factual articles together for the likes of The Independent which are easily accessible to anyone who wants to understand things – but then I realised that the average mum whose life is not personally affected by any of this is probably unlikely to do that.
I don’t say that to throw shade, it’s just the way life is – we tend to focus more on things that directly affect us and our loved ones, and not on the things that don’t. So maybe I can reach some of those people who may happen to have followed me back in the day as a run-of-the-mill Mummy Blogger. Maybe I can break it all down to be easier to understand.
And maybe, just maybe I can convince people that they should care about this.
So let’s give it a go, shall we?….
So what exactly happened at the Supreme Court this week?
On April 16, 2025, the UK Supreme Court ruled that, under the Equality Act 2010, the terms “man,” “woman,” and “sex” refer specifically to biological sex, and not gender identity. This means that, legally, a “woman” is defined as someone who was born female, even if a transgender woman has a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC)
The court’s decision allows—but does not require—organizations to exclude trans women from single-sex spaces like women’s shelters, hospital wards, and sports teams.
Protections from harassment for transgender people do still exist under the Equality Act as gender identity is still considered a protected characteristic, but the fact remains that the ruling now means that transgender people can legally be excluded from single-sex spaces such as those listed above.
Why Did This Happen?
The group “For Women Scotland” , backed by over £70,000 worth of private funding from gender critical childrens author JK Rowling, lobbied for this ruling.
The Goodlaw Project – a non-profit organisation founded in 2017 by barrister Jolyon Maugham – argues that the ruling should not legally stand as it creates legal inconsistencies and excludes testimonies from any transgender individuals, such as the UK’s first trans judge. By sidelining these voices, the Good Law Project believes the court failed to fully consider the real-world impact on the trans community and failed to provide a balanced investigation into the issue.
Why Is It Not As Simple As Defining People By Their Born Sex?
The over-riding argument from the general public in support of this ruling is that of science and biology, with statements such as “it’s simple biology” consistently shared. If only things were that simple.
The truth is that biology is much more complicated than this.
The typical chromosomal make-up of men and women is XX and XY. However, Science shows us that variations in sex chromosomes—such as XXY, XYY, XO, or mosaic patterns—are not uncommon and often go undetected without genetic testing, meaning most people don’t truly know their chromosomal sex. You or I may not have the assumed XX or XY chromosomal make up and would never even know it unless we were tested.
Furthermore the existence of Intersex people, people who are born with a mix of male and female physical or genetic traits, further challenges binary definitions of sex – they are often completely disregarded in these discussions, and rulings such as this one neglect to acknowledge their existence at all.
Even in nature, biological sex is not clear-cut—many species exhibit fluid or variable sex traits, and some can even change sex during their lifetime. Altogether, these scientific realities highlight that biology exists on a spectrum, not within the strict, binary categories that some people like to assume they do.
So in laymen’s terms – statements such as “You’re born male or female, it’s that simple!” or “It’s just simple science, end of” do nothing except demonstrate an incorrect understanding of biology.
Why this is a problem for all women
The incorrect belief that this ruling is only harmful for trans people is one that people really need to challenge.
What this narrowed definition of gender means is that who is considered a “woman” is now going to be open to scrutiny – taking away the right to self-identify and choose the bathroom (for example) of your choice, means that it will now be down to someone else’s perception of how well you fit into their definition of what a “woman” should look like as to whether or not you will be allowed to access these spaces.
Tall women? Flat chested women? Women with square jaws and prominent shoulders or any other stereotypically “Masculine” features? Women who do not feel inclined to perform femininity by way of hair length, make up use, clothing choice etc? All of those people will now run the risk of having their womanhood called in to question when entering a female-only space. Whose job will it be to decide who does or does not look “enough” like a woman? How will we quantify that? Will we need to prove it by way of birth certificate or chromosome test? Where does that leave intersex people and those with chromosomal patterns that don’t match their assumed gender?
There have already been numerous cases of this happening – Erin Darke, wife of actor Daniel Radcliffe, was verbally attacked by transphobes who insisted she” looked trans”. A cisgender female employee at Walmart in Florida was threatened with attack from a male customer last month after he assumed her to be male and using a female toilet, due to her height and physique.
This sets a dangerous precedent, one which threatens the freedom of ALL women and could lead to much more dangerous situations than simply sharing a bathroom with a trans woman.
Furthermore, the insistence that this definition was needed in order to protect womens safe spaces also falls apart under scrutiny – as the existence of trans men is frequently left out of the conversation.
If trans women are to be forced to use male bathrooms and so on, then the same logic applies to trans men who would then be forced to use female bathrooms. The below image shows a small example of trans men – as you can clearly see, it is impossible to distinguish them from cisgender men on first glance.
If these trans men are now to use female bathrooms, this makes it easier than ever before for predatory cisgender men to access female spaces. They don’t even need to put on a dress anymore, then can literally just walk right in unchallenged because now that trans men have to use our spaces nobody would ever be able to tell the difference.
Was this simply overlooked? Or was it never really about protecting safe spaces at all.
How are trans people already being impacted
Let’s not make the mistake of only caring about the impact this ruling will have on us as cisgender women. We MUST care about the impact it has directly on the trans community too.
The EHRC (Equality and Human Rights Commission) has already stated that they will “pursue the NHS” if they do not change policy regarding wards and toilets to comply with the change, and British Transport Police have already stated that trans women will now be searched by male staff.
This is just what has happened within a 24 hour period since the announcement. There will be more changes to come, and schools are already calling for updated guidance regarding the handling of gender non-conforming children.
The humiliation, degradation and dehumanisation of trans people has already begun to translate into policy and make no mistake that this WILL lead to increased instances of transphobic attacks and emboldening of transphobic voices in the community, as well as increased risk of suicide and self harm in this already vulnerable group of people.
This marginalised minority group, which makes up less than 1% of the population, is now undeniably at increased risk of harm in various ways as outlined above.
48% of trans youth in the UK have attempted suicide. Policy changes like these directly impact their safety
Summary
The crux of what’s happened here is that a group of people were so keen to gatekeep trans women from certain spaces that they put pressure on a court to define what a woman is.
In doing so, what we’ve actually achieved is a narrowed view of gender which is now open to questioning for all people and actually makes it easier than ever before for predatory cisgender men to exploit. So either the people pushing for this didn’t actually think it all the way through – or it was never actually about women’s safety at all, it was just about hating trans people and pushing for their ostracization and segregation.
It was also about protecting and enforcing traditional views of binary gender. I believe that what the powers that be and the people who pushed for this actually want is for trans people and non binary individuals to simply not exist at all. They want forced conformity to binary gender for everybody, and anything outside of that just will not do.
How YOU Can & Should Be Showing Your Support
If you don’t have a horse in this race on a personal level, then please don’t act as though you don’t have a part to play. Trans people and their families are reeling from this, and the onus should not be on them to be the ones standing up for what’s right here. If you consider yourself to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, you MUST do what you can to help.
Allyship is a label than cannot be held without taking action for change. Ally may be a noun—but it’s one that requires action.
So here are some things that you can do:
*Make your voice heard – whether that’s by going to a protest or writing to your MP to encourage their involvement in pushing for policies that protect trans people.
*Fight the transphobia around you – whether within your own family and circle, in the comments sections online or in the community – do not let transphobia go unchallenged. Call it out when you see it, correct misinformation and stand up for what’s right. Do not leave this to the people who are already exhausted by what’s happening.
*Show your allyship loud & clear – make posts on social media siding with the community, wear visible cues like pins to show that you are standing with trans people and are a safe person.
*Check in and offer support to your friends who are directly affected by what’s happening – As the parent of a trans young person, I receive more support from strangers on the internet than I do from the people who are supposed to be closest to me. A simple “I saw the news, I hope you’re ok – I’m here for you” message can mean the world when it feels like the world is against you. This will be even more crucial for transgender people themselves – they are in the eye of the storm right now and they need anchors. Be that for the trans people in your life. You may think that it doesn’t need to be said, but I can promise you it means more than you know.
I hope that whether you’re directly affected by this issue or not, you will give it some real thought. Even if you’ve never thought this affects you—please understand that it does. Silence is complicity.