Tower Hamlets voices reaffirm trans solidarity in wake of Supreme Court ruling

Queer groups in Tower Hamlets have united in solidarity against the Supreme Court ruling on gender to protect citizen rights

On 16 April, the Supreme Court ruled to clarify the legal definition of a ‘woman’ in the 2010 Equality Act. The ruling defines a ‘woman’ as a biological female. This ruling means that trans women, even if they have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), are not legally considered women in the Equality Act.

Tower Hamlets Trans+ Pride, who organised the first Trans+ Pride event in the borough earlier this year, believes the ruling to be ‘another step backwards for the UK as it continues to rescind trans rights … this is why we need trans-led spaces and Trans Pride events. Trans liberation and women’s liberation are immutably connected, despite what the institutions say.’

While trans people, including non-binary people, are still protected from discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, under the protected characteristic ‘Gender Reassignment’, this ruling is seen by many to be an increasing infringement on trans rights in recent years.

The Supreme Court’s definition attempts to provide legal clarity for single-sex spaces. In practice, this ruling means that if a service operates a single-sex space for women, such as toilets, changing rooms, or hostels (refuges), trans women will not be able to enter, even if they have a GRC. This ruling also applies to trans men, who would not be able to enter single-sex spaces for men.

Samantha Coupe (she/her), a Tower Hamlets local, says it’s a matter of safety to use toilets that match her gender identity. She expresses that ‘the government is asking me to use the blokes’ and I ain’t gonna listen. They are not getting me in there; I will p**s on the door of Downing Street before they put me in the men’s.

The ruling also erases Intersex identities by stating that sex is a binary construct. There hasn’t been any guidance on how this ruling affects intersex people. It also provides challenges for people who present androgynously or beyond traditional gender stereotypes.

Current President of the Barts and the London LGBT+ Society, Sarina Allan (she/her), mentions how ‘as a gender non-conforming woman, I see how this ruling is dangerous to all women. The gatekeeping of womanhood harms us all, giving those in power an excuse to oppress minority women and those who are different in any way’.

 The ruling follows the government’s indefinite ban on puberty blockers for trans youth and multiple other guidelines published by government bodies, including the Cass Review and the Non-Statutory Guidance for Schools on Gender Questioning Children.

The Supreme Court has also yet to provide guidance on how single-sex services should operate. However, organisations are already changing their policies to reflect the ruling. 

However, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has provided interim guidance on single-sex spaces, which is not statutory and isn’t a legal requirement. This guidance states that hospitals, shops and restaurants should not permit trans women to use women’s facilities.

The British Police have already taken some of this guidance on board, having stated that same-sex searches in custody will be conducted ‘in accordance with the biological birth sex of the detainee’. Thus, male officers will search trans women, and female officers will search trans men.

In a swift response to the ruling, dozens of protests were held across the UK. On Saturday, 19 April, reportedly 20,000 people attended an ‘emergency demo’ at Parliament Square, London, to protest the ruling and show support for the trans community. Many more protests are in the planning stages and will take place nationwide.

Many organisations in Tower Hamlets have publicly refuted the Supreme Court’s ruling, expressing solidarity with the trans community and making it known that their spaces and services are safe spaces for trans, non-binary and intersex people.

Health and wellbeing non-profit based in Cambridge Heath, The Love Tank, ‘believes the ruling to be unenforceable, discriminatory and ignores the voices of trans people … we stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with the trans people working within our organisation and with the wider trans communities in our borough’.

The Scarlett Letters, a radical independent bookshop in Bethnal Green, ‘wishes to express solidarity with trans people and trans women in particular … we pledge to be a place where the voices and lived experiences of trans people are acknowledged, centred, celebrated, and protected’.

The UK’s largest anarchist bookshop, based in Aldgate East, Freedom Bookshop, rejects the words of the politicians, media outlets, and lawmakers who incorrectly seem to think they hold the power to police a person’s sex or gender … trans and non-binary people have always existed as long as humankind’.

How organisations will implement the Supreme Court ruling and the EHRC guidance has caused contention, and there are many questions about how organisations can enforce the ruling. Regardless, the trans community in Tower Hamlets remains steadfast, and the support it has received has shown solidarity.

If you liked this, read Celebrating Pride amidst adversity: the resilience of trans and non-binary residents in Tower Hamlets