Trans Rights, How much have we lost?
We are living in a climate where transgender people’s rights are being debated upon and restricted in the UK. As a BBC Radio Scotland presenter asked me when talking about the Supreme Court ruling, "What rights have you actually lost?”
POLITICSEDUCATIONRIGHTS
Skye Morgan
7/14/20262 min read
Supreme Court Ruling [Image: Pixaby]
Legal recognition of sex:
In April 2025, the Supreme Court ruled in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers that “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex at birth and not the sex recorded on a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). This opened up the can of worms about the validity or relevance of a GRC.
After the Supreme Court ruling was issued, the Equality and Human Rights Commission “EHRC” released interim guidance and then a full draft ‘Code of Practice’ implementing the ruling. It states that single-sex services (toilets, changing rooms, wards, refuges, sports, etc) should generally be organised by biological sex.
Trans Women banned from Women's Sports [Image: Pixaby]
Sport:
From June 1 2025, transgender women were banned from women’s football in England, with the Scottish FA adopting an equivalent policy restricting competitive girls’ and women’s football to ‘biological females’ from the 2025/26 session.
Healthcare restricted [Image: Pixaby]
Healthcare:
In 2024, prescriptions of puberty blockers were banned for trans young people under 18 following the Cass Review. A 2020 High Court ruling had required court approval for under-16s to access puberty blockers, though overturned a year later, the NHS restrictions adopted these guidelines in response and they remained in place with a review planned in 2027.
Waiting lists for trans healthcare are also a massive issue within the UK. By 2022 the Tavistock GIDS waiting list exceeded 5,000 with an average first appointment taking three years. Waiting lists for Sandyford continue to worsen with a first appointment taking 224 years if someone went on the waiting list today.
Gender Recognition Reform Act:
In 2023 Scotland passed its own Gender Recognition Reform Act which makes it easier for transgender people to self-ID. However, Westminster blocked that bill from seeking royal assent using section 35 of the Scotland Act.
Hate crimes:
In 2018/19 the recorded data for hate crimes involving transgender people was 2,253 however that number rose to 4,732 in 2022/23. A 48% increase alongside a massive rise of negative coverage of transgender issues in the same period.
That is some of the issues faced by transgender young people in the UK. Everyday is another day where they are waking up and asking themselves what rights have been taken away from them today. If you care about this issue, support your trans friends, check in with them and tell everyone that trans people deserve better.