As part of a powerful campaign, Munroe Bergdorf, Nadia Almada, India Willoughby and Victoria McCloud got the chance to have their voices heard
BY NIC CROSARA, IMAGE BY PRESS
On 16 April 2025, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the terms “woman” and “sex” refer to biological women and biological sex in the Equality Act 2010. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) also released interim guidance, which requires toilet use based on “biological sex”. Notably, the guidance also notes that trans women should not be permitted to use women’s facilities, and trans men should not be permitted to use men’s facilities. It also states that, in some circumstances, the law also allows trans women not to be permitted to use the men’s facilities, and trans men not to be permitted to use the women’s facilities.
While it’s an undeniably frightening time to exist as a trans person in the UK today, since the ruling, there have been some powerful displays of trans advocacy. We saw protests and rallies erupt across the UK. Last week, a cross-party group of parliamentary staff came together to issue a letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons. At a parliamentary briefing, a panel of trans+ legal experts warned that the ruling has put the UK at risk of being found to be in breach of its international human rights commitments.
On 16 May, non-profit organisation Good Law Project and a number of trans and intersex individuals began a legal challenge to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) “Interim Update” following the Supreme Court ruling.
On the very same day, as part of their campaign to stop the UK’s attack on trans people, the organisation projected a video onto the UK Supreme Court building in London. The moving projection started with text reading: “A month ago today, the Supreme Court rolled back trans rights. Not a single Trans person was allowed to make their case. This is what they might have said.”
The public and viewers then get to see videos of Munroe Bergdorf, Nadia Almada, India Willoughby and Victoria McCloud getting their chance to say what they would have said if the judges had let them speak.
“Justice is about balance, and it’s about being fair,” said Victoria – the UK’s first trans high court judge – who the court blocked from intervening in the case. “Balance means hearing the people affected.”
Activist Munroe spoke of how she worries about “our physical safety and our mental health. I’m concerned that this will embolden people who hold violently transphobic views.”
Find out more about how you can help fund Good Law Project’s campaign at goodlawproject.org.
You can watch the full video below.
DIVA magazine celebrates 31 years in print in 2025. If you like what we do, then get behind LGBTQIA media and keep us going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.
✨linkin.bio/ig-divamagazine ✨
