Liverpool’s LGBTQ+ community gathered in the city centre this weekend as part of a national day of action in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of a woman.
Protesters told Mersey News Live that the court judgement, which stated that a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities law, had left them frightened and anxious.
Demonstrations across the city come as major organisations review their policies in the light of the ruling. British Transport Police have amended their strip-search policy following the landmark gender ruling, to state that transgender women arrested on British railway must now be strip searched by male officers.
Grassroots activist group, Not Your Scapegoat, organised the two day demonstration in Liverpool, with protestors gathering at St. George’s Hall on Friday evening and at the Queen Victoria monument outside the Crown Court on Saturday.
Implications of the ruling have been felt by transgender people all around the country, with a “national day of action” taking place across UK cities such as London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.
Speaking at the event, protestor and trans woman, Amber Potts, 26, said: “The anxiety that this is going to escalate is terrifying.
“As it stands at the moment it’s scary, but the biggest fear for me is that it’s going to get worse, and peoples attitudes are going to get worse.”
“I’m not worried that there’s going to be a policeman outside of a bathroom, I’m worried that I’m going to go into the bathroom and everyone’s going to kick me out because I make them uncomfortable.”
Following the announcement of the ruling, Women and Equalities minister, Bridget Phillipson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that transgender women should use male toilets, saying: “The ruling was clear that provisions and services should be accessed on the basis of biological sex.”
Holding a sign that read ‘protect the dolls’, protestor, Tyler Anderson, 23 told Mersey News Live: “They’re saying that men will dress up as women to go into their bathrooms. They are men, they are cisgender men, they are not trans women.
“Trans women are more worried about their own safety, and they would never harm a cisgender woman.”
Mrs Phillipson attempted to reassure the transgender community during a speech in the House of Commons last week, saying that the Labour government will protect “the rights of all people with protected characteristics now and always”.
Trans man and protestor at the Liverpool demonstration, Icarus Walker, 19, said: “It’s honestly also an attack on women and their rights and their safety as well.”
“We all want the same thing, we all just want a peaceful life at the end of the day.”
The ongoing demonstrations come after the UK Supreme Court ruled in favour of a motion by campaign group, For Women Scotland to amend The Equality Act 2010. The motion claimed that sex based protections should only apply to the biological sex of the person affected.
The group brought the case against the Scottish government in 2020, with the government arguing in court that transgender people with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) are still entitled to the same sex-based protections as biological women.
However, the recent ruling has brought about change to The Equality Act 2010 legislation, specifically surrounding gender identity, women and biological sex. The ruling changed legislation to state that the legal definition of the word “woman” applies only to those assigned female at birth.
Britain’s first transgender judge, Victoria McCloud has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights for infringements on her human rights following the change in legislation surrounding gender.
Organisers, Not Your Scapegoat shared an Instagram post stating that trans voices were not included in the discussion, labelling the decision as “vile” and “dangerous”, stating it was “another direct attack on trans people.”
For support regarding any of the issues mentioned, please visit the following links:
- Mersey Care NHS Trans Support Service: https://www.merseycare.nhs.uk/our-services/liverpool/trans-support-service
- Spirit Level Transgender Support Group: https://spiritlevel.org.uk
- Sahir Liverpool: https://www.sahir.org.uk
- In-Trust Merseyside: https://merseysideintrust.org/trans-support-service/
To see more reaction from the weekend’s demonstrations, watch below:
