LGBTQ+ charities call on Keir Starmer to stop a looming “crisis” of transphobia in the UK

A collective of LGBTQ+ organisations has urgently requested a meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer to address a potential “crisis” for trans and non-binary individuals in the UK.

According to ‘MSN’, fourteen LGBTQ+ charities, including Stonewall, Scottish Trans, and the LGBT Consortium, sent a letter to the prime minister, emphasising the need to meet with representatives to discuss the increasing transphobic rhetoric in the UK and to prevent what they describe as a “genuine crisis for the rights, dignity and inclusion of trans people in the UK.”

This request follows an April ruling by the UK Supreme Court, which stated that the legal definitions of women and sex in the 2010 Equality Act pertain solely to “biological women” and “biological sex,” thereby excluding trans women.

In response to the ruling, Starmer expressed being “really pleased” with the “clarity” it provided and indicated that he no longer regards trans women as women and trans men as men.

However, the group of charities argued in their letter, as reported by The Guardian, that the ruling has instead resulted in “confusion” and a “lack of clarity” regarding its effects on businesses, single-sex spaces, services, and civil society.

They added that the implications of the ruling have effectively turned the 2010 Equality Act “completely on its head,” creating “a legal framework that simply cannot uphold the dignity, protection, and respect of trans people.”

The letter also criticised the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for issuing non-statutory guidance recommending that trans individuals of all gender identities be excluded from gendered toilets, male or female. They described the guidance as conflicting with the UK's commitments under the Human Rights Act and stated that it constitutes “significant overreach.”

Although the guidance is not legally binding, the EHRC’s role as an advisory body on human rights laws in the UK suggests it might be used to justify future legislation.

The chair of the EHRC, Kishwer Falkner, claimed that criticism of the EHRC’s guidance is “unacceptable” and maintained that it is inappropriate to “question the integrity of the judiciary, or indeed the regulator, as some have done.”

An internal investigation into the EHRC regarding allegations of “bullying, transphobia, and harassment” was initiated in 2023 following Channel 4’s report of a “toxic culture.” The investigation was later put on hold.

The Supreme Court ruling is currently being legally challenged by the Good Law Project, a non-profit organisation dedicated to maintaining human rights equity through legal means.

To date, the charity has raised over £306,000 for a forthcoming legal challenge, which it claims will contest the ruling for “disgracefully” not consulting a single trans person during the trial.

The decision, according to the charity, “shamefully denies the reality of trans existence and will cause daily humiliation for trans people and cis people who choose not to dress 'normally.' Additionally, it will not enhance safety for anyone, whether cis or trans.”

Trans judge Dr. Victoria McCloud, who also intends to challenge the ruling through the European Court of Human Rights, mentioned that she and other trans people had sought to participate in the case but were denied.