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Trans rights under attack



If you’re part of the LGBT+ community or you know someone who is, you’ll know that there was a pretty important ruling last week. Under pressure from a gender critical group supported financially by a famous children’s author, the UK Supreme Court has ruled that in essence trans people are to be considered in law to be the gender they were assigned at birth rather than the gender they have transitioned to, even with a Gender Recognition Certificate issued for the Scottish Government.


Subsequently the EHRC, which has historic issues with transphobia, has jumped on this and published Interim Guidance for business, organisations and service providers instructing them how they should interpret the ruling in practice. The guidance broadly exclude trans people from any space that is designed ‘for women’ or ‘for men’.


The EHRC has decided that trans women can no longer use women’s toilets and trans men can no longer use gent’s toilets. In practice, a trans woman working in an office would now not be allowed to use the ladies. She would in theory have to use the gents or would be expected to use a unisex option, such as a disabled toilet. This essentially denies her any privacy and forces her to disclose the fact that she is trans to her colleagues. Pubs, clubs, restaurants, cinemas; anywhere you can imagine you would go day to day, this has affected, and it had serious implications for pensions, hospital care and more.


The EHRC has also bizarrely decided that trans women should not be allowed access to lesbian groups and trans men groups for gay men. This is simply not how the majority of the community works; there has always been a place for trans men, trans women and non-binary people wherever they want to be. In ruling to allow minority transphobic groups the right to deny access, it’s seeking to destroy the togetherness of our community, and that will not stand.


It’s likely that all of this can be challenged legally, but that takes time and damage is already being done at lightning speed.


In the days since the ruling and the publication of the Interim Guidance (at 10pm on Friday night) there has been a flurry of activity in the UK, with politicians and organisations taking action before the metaphorical ink has even dried.



This is the most direct attack on the LGBT community in our country since Clause 28 of the 1980s and ‘90s, which banned “promotion of homosexuality” in our schools. The hyperbolic language attacking trans people is the same that was used to argue against equal marriage in 2014. I remember it being almost impossible to pick up a newspaper or open a website then without there being a quote from (the now disgraced) Cardinal O’Brien saying that gay marriage was somehow a threat and a danger to children. Now it’s trans women who are a supposed threat, and a specific threat to cisgender women, despite there being absolutely no evidence of that. In fact women are more likely to be in danger from men, and in particular men they know, than a trans woman minding her own business and going for a pee.


Facts don’t seem to matter to the EHRC. The British Medical Association has published a statement denouncing the ruling, which I’ll include in full below:


“[The BMA] condemns scientifically illiterate rulings from the Supreme Court, made without consulting relevant experts and stakeholders, that will cause real-world harm to the trans, non-binary and intersex communities in this country”.


Pushing back on this will take time, and our trans friends, family and colleagues are under more stress and pressure than ever, putting them at risk of mental health crises. Healthcare providers have to ensure that mental health services are accessible and can provide care within a meaningful timeframe instead of long waiting lists. I’m angry and disappointed this has happened in 2025, I really am, and I’m certainly not the only one with thousands of people attending over 20 protests UK-wide at the weekend following the ruling.


You may be asking yourself, “what can I do as an ally?” Well here is a list for starters:




Trans and LGBT support lines:

  • LGBT Health and Wellbeing: 0800 464 7000 (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays (12 - 9pm), Sundays (1 -6pm)

  • Switchboard National LGBTQIA+ Support line: 0800 0119100

  • Mindline Trans+: 0300 330 5468 (Mon & Fri 8pm - midnight)



If you’d like to work with me on your mental health, get in touch by completing the online form or emailing me directly at mckellarCBT@gmail.com

 
 

© 2025 McKellar Counselling

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