Statement in solidarity with the trans community
/Haldane stands in solidarity with the trans community in the face of the recent Supreme Court judgment in For Women Scotland Ltd (Appellant) v The Scottish Ministers (Respondent) [2025] UKSC 16.
The ramifications of that judgment have become increasingly apparent through heightened levels of abuse and transphobia, and the ensuing negative impact upon safe access to public spaces for trans people. Haldane notes and joins the concerns raised by many about the interim guidance on trans rights produced on behalf of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (‘EHRC’) – guidance which clearly goes beyond even this devastating ruling - and supports the wide-ranging calls for the consultation period on the EHRC guidance to be thorough and detailed, allowing affected parties to be fully and comprehensively heard. The inclusion of trans people within that process is particularly vital given the fact that no trans-affiliated groups were heard within the Supreme Court hearing, nor was significant consideration given to the impact upon intersex individuals.
Any final guidance should be workable and enable full access to society for all trans, non-binary and gender-diverse people, who it is recognised suffer significant and increasing levels of misogyny, transphobia and violence.
Haldane is mindful of the decision in Goodwin v UK (2002) 35 EHRR 18, in which the European Court of Human Rights (‘ECtHR’) held that the U.K. had breached its positive obligation under Article 8 to ensure respect for private life by failing to give legal recognition to the applicant’s gender reassignment, as well as under Article 12. This decision led to the enactment of the Gender Recognition Act (‘GRA’) 2004. In addition to the wider ramifications of the Supreme Court judgment in For Women Scotland Ltd, Haldane has been particularly concerned about another recent legal attack on trans people - namely an attempted amendment to the Data (Use and Access) Bill which would have allowed data protection rules to be rewritten to force public authorities to collect ‘sex at birth’ data from members of the public1 and which would watered down the provisions within the GRA 2004, as well as representing a rollback of rights for transgender, non-binary and intersex people.
Haldane robustly supports the concerns raised by multiple organisations about the undermining of protections within the GRA 2004 and the likelihood that the judgment in For Women Scotland Ltd will continue to be used to stoke the ‘culture war’ being waged against trans people across the U.K.