TL;DR: NHS England guidance has instructed GPs to refuse any care that supports under 18s to receive gender affirming care like puberty blockers and hormones. It also warns specifically against entering into shared care agreements with some of the UK Trans+ communities most used private health care providers of gender affirming care. It signals this approach could happen for adults too.
In just a week, the Supreme Court ruling that the Equality Act's definition of a woman excludes Trans women, has had a catastrophic impact on the fight for Trans+ rights. It has been felt in both political and societal spaces as everyone tries to grasp at what it practically means for life in the UK.
We've already seen some organisations shift their policies, only to U-turn on them later in the week. Meanwhile, the PM and Equalities Minister's comments have given rise to a legal challenge which could take the decision to the European Court of Human Rights.
Those comments, however, might not even hold that much weight. Lord Sumption, one of the Supreme Court justices, set out in an interview that the ruling doesn't mean women’s toilets are for biological women only.
Here is a summary of everything that's happened since the ruling:
How the UK government has responded to the Supreme Court ruling
The majority of political parties have accepted the ruling, despite the clear bias involved in creating it - with not a single Trans+ person being allowed to testify before the court. After an initial silence, Keir Starmer went back on previous comments, saying that he no longer believes trans women are women. Specifically, when asked on Tuesday if Starmer thought a trans woman was a woman, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “No.” - BBC
Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who has led the vast majority of anti-trans rhetoric and policy decisions from Labour so far, said transgender patients could be treated in private rooms in NHS hospitals to protect their “rights and dignities”. He made the comments as he announced NHS guidance on same-sex wards is being reviewed in light of the ruling - The Times
Meanwhile, in an interview on Radio 4's Today Programme, the Equalities Minister said that - even though EHRC guidance was yet to come out - trans women should use public toilets in line with their "biological sex", as defined by the court. This gave rise to mainstream media defining it as policy, and in many cases - despite this not being a change in the law - it was used as an opportunity to claim Trans+ people who used toilets were defying new rules.
In the House of Lords, a minister clarified that the judgment does not, in the government’s view, prevent the provision of inclusive services. This was a small saving grace for groups like Stonewall, who welcomed the clarity.
How Scotland has responded to the Supreme Court ruling
Although this ruling affects the UK-wide Equality Act, the challenge that led to it began in Scotland. In his initial response, the First Minister John Swinney spoke of his fear for what it meant for the Trans+ community, who he said would be feeling great anxiety - BBC
As the week progressed, he said the Scottish government will issue "timely guidance" on the issue of single-sex spaces - BBC
There was also the first ruling in a judicial review that relied on the Supreme Court to make its decision. The judge ordered Scottish schools to provide single-sex lavatories for pupils in a legal fight brought by parents against a council which was planning on only installing gender-neutral facilities in its schools. The parents were supported by For Women Scotland, who brought the Supreme Court case - The Times
The Scottish Greens have distanced themselves from the UK Green Party, after one of its co-leaders welcomed the ruling in a radio interview. Maggie Chapman, a Green MSP, called on the SNP to bring back its previously struck down self-ID law - The Times
How the Police have responded to the Supreme Court ruling
One of the first groups to announce a policy change was the British Transport Police, which issued contradictory statements and guidance. It publicly announced that, following the ruling, Trans+ people suspected of offenses would be strip-searched or frisked by someone of the same "biological sex" as defined by the court. However, in guidance that followed the announcement, it set out that if a person objects to this - "as far as it is operationally viable" officers should "make every effort to ensure a member of the team replaces the officer that the individual is comfortable with" - The Times
Police Scotland also said it was reviewing its policies - The Times
A wave of protests across the UK
A number of massive protests against the ruling took place over the last week. The one that got the most focus was the London demonstration which began outside parliament on Saturday with organisers saying some 20,000 people attended - QueerAF
Graffiti was left on two statues during the demonstration. One was the former South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts, who supported white racial dominance in the early stages of apartheid. The other was the statue of suffragette Dame Millicent Fawcett. The home secretary Yvette Cooper called the vandalism "disgraceful" - BBC
Anti-trans mainstream media spun the damage to attack Trans+ activists and demanded a 'police hunt' - The Sun
This led to the Police u-turning on a decision and investigating placards that read 'the only good TERF is a _ _ _ _ one', with a picture of the game hangman - The Telegraph
The power the media had to turn what began as a blind eye to dark humour to taking placards not aimed at any individual so seriously shows how powerful anti-trans voices have become, in effect, leveraging state violence against the LGBTQIA+ community.
Analysis: So much of what this ruling means is still up for grabs
As well as all of this playing out in a very public arena, Trans+ rights groups have also been grappling with the ruling - and indeed, questioning whether it will legally stand up.
Trans Actual UK published an open letter to the Prime Minister, which set out a seven-point analysis on how the ruling either contradicts other UK laws, or will be unworkable in reality. Indeed, despite the Equalities Minister's comments, Lord Sumption, one of the Justices of the Supreme Court, told Radio 4 that the court hasn't ruled that women’s toilets are for biological women only. He clarified it just allows organisations to do this - Trans Actual
Predictably, the real danger of this ruling is how it’s being manipulated by anti-trans activists and media. It's up to all of us to ensure that Trans+ voices and allies are heard. We have to sing, loud and proud, from the same hymn sheet, so that the loudest voices in the room don't get to twist this ruling’s meaning into something else.
We face an acute period ahead of us in our community:
A time where people who hate us are feeling more and more enabled to share, spread and communicate those attitudes.
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