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 said: “Well, are they going to allow trans men into the women’s toilets if that’s the rhetoric that they’re pushing?
“I know a lot of masculine lesbian women who have actually been kicked out of the toilets as well, so really they’re just opening a can of worms.
“It’s not only going to hurt us, they’re also going to hurt cisgender people who don’t present how society wants them to stereotypically present.”
Mrs Phillipson attempted to reassure the transgender community in 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”.
However, according to Home Office data, transgender hate crimes had been rising across England and Wales before the fall seen in the last year, and now account for 3% of all hate crimes recorded.
Trans man and protestor at the Liverpool demonstration, Icarus Walker, 19, said: “At the end of the day, it’s human rights that people are looking for.
“We all just want to live peacefully and that’s all we’re asking for, and this ruling is just making it harder for people to be their authentic selves.”
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 of this decision, labelling the ruling 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/
If you wish to share your opinion on this topic with Mersey News Live, find us on X @merseynewslive or comment below.
To see more reaction from the weekend’s demonstrations, watch the video by Niamh Green below:
