By Ollie Bell, Socialist Party Ireland 28 April 2025
Outside the steps of the UK Supreme Court, bottles of champagne were popped by For Women Scotland – an anti-trans campaign group, who sinisterly celebrated as another attack was leveraged against the trans community. The Supreme Court had just ruled that the definition of ‘woman’, as used in the Equality Act 2010, refers only to ‘biological women’, excluding trans women.
The Court also stated that trans men are excluded from the definition of woman and excluded from women’s spaces, with notorious anti-trans activist Maya Forstater saying: “That may seem unfair, but these are life choices people make. If you make extreme efforts to look like a man don’t be surprised if you are denied entrance to ladies”.
It also stated that the term ‘sex’ is defined as binary and a person is either a man or a woman. Shamefully, this decision has been supported by Keir Starmer and, unsurprisingly, by the DUP in the North. Prominent Sinn Féin TDs, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and David Cullinane, also issued statements in support of the decision.
Despite Supreme Court Judge Lord Hodge saying this ruling is not about one group’s triumph over another, the celebrations of anti-trans bigots and the right wing tell a different story.
The Supreme Court is another elitist tool of the capitalist state, and the implications of this ruling go beyond the court doors. Immediately afterwards, the British Transport Police amended its strip-search policies so that male police officers can strip-search trans women. This new policy gives the green light to officers to humiliate and abuse trans women, essentially legalising gender-based violence against them.
Who are “For Women Scotland”?
The case, brought forward by For Women Scotland (FWS), questioned the definition of woman under the Equality Act and whether this included someone with a female Gender Recognition Cert. FWS identifies as a ‘grassroots’ women’s group despite arch-transphobe JK Rowling herself donating £70,000 (€81,000) towards this case. A stark demonstration that it is in the billionaire class’s interest to uphold the gender binary.
Far from being a feminist group, FWS co-founder, the late Magdalen Berns, compared trans women to ‘blackface actors’, while also spreading anti-Semitic, far-right conspiracy theories about the ‘transgender lobby’ being secretly funded by Jewish people like George Soros.
FWS also shared a stage with the Scottish Family Party – an anti-choice, anti-LGBTQI+ far-right party, in 2022, against LGBTQI+ inclusive education. Repeatedly, anti-trans groups like FWS are willing to work with the far right and throw women’s rights under the bus if it means fewer rights and protections for trans people.
This Supreme Court case isn’t a win for any woman, but a win for the far right and misogynistic and transphobic forces generally. Defining women solely by their biology is a Trojan horse to restricting access to abortion and contraception, with the end goal of chaining women to their ‘natural’ roles as mothers and child rearers. By working with the far right, FWS are enabling attacks on women’s bodily autonomy,
Movement from below emerges
The purpose of this latest attack is to shove trans people out of public spaces and force them back into the closet.
Yet rather than hide away, trans people have been organising protests against this ruling. Multiple protests were organised across London, Bristol, Edinburgh and other UK cities. Twenty thousand marched in London, leading chants like “Trans rights are human rights” and “HRT over the counter and for free”, along with chants in solidarity with disabled people over the cuts to PIP as they marched past the Department for Work and Pensions.
Two thousand people turned up in Edinburgh with signs saying, “Supreme Court – Our Blood is on Your Hands.” The mood across Britain was radical, militant and defiant, showing trans people aren’t going anywhere.
Solidarity with Palestine was a factor in multiple protests – with Queers For Palestine joining London. In Sheffield, speakers also emphasised the importance of oppressed groups and workers uniting in solidarity, while also showing support for Palestine.
With the attacks on trans rights not slowing down anytime soon, this is the action that’s needed to defend trans people and all oppressed people. All oppression is interlinked and exacerbated under capitalism. By standing together to dismantle this rotten system, we can fully achieve true freedom and liberation for all in a truly humane and socialist society!