A year under attack – and a year fighting back | Good Law Project
Source: https://goodlawproject.org/a-year-under-attack-and-a-year-fighting-back
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:28
A year under attack – and a year fighting back | Good Law Project
We use limited cookies
We use cookies where necessary to allow us to understand how people interact with our website and content, so that we can continue to improve our service.
View our privacy policy
More Options
Choose which cookies to allow
Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics 4
Meta (Facebook)
Google ads
Reddit
TikTok
Confirm your choices
Skip to main content
Latest
16 April 2026
A year under attack – and a year fighting back
By
Jess O’Thomson and Jolyon Maugham
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Part of campaign
Stop the UK’s attack on trans people
View campaign
Stop the UK’s attack on trans people
Jess O’Thomson and Jolyon Maugham reflect on what has happened in the year since the Supreme Court’s judgment, and how the trans community has courageously fought back
Stay up to date and be the first to hear about how to take action
Sign up
A year ago today, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment on the meaning of “sex” under the Equality Act 2010.
The Court refused to hear from trans people – the group most profoundly affected by the case – and then dismantled a decades-old understanding of how they were protected by the Equality Act. And the powerful criticisms of the decision did not stop with the process by which it was reached. It was, for us as lawyers, a deeply shameful moment which infantilised and pathologised trans existence: a Dred Scott moment for our Supreme Court. YouGov polling shows a
collapse in confidence
in the legal system amongst trans people, and it’s not hard to understand why.
But we also know that the judiciary is not a monolith – not all judges will fail as the Supreme Court failed. And we continue to believe that the law has a role to play. The law does not help trans people as it should – but that does not mean it cannot help trans people at all.
Force the government to rip up the EHRC’s transphobic guidance
Email your MP
Although the Supreme Court’s decision never required a bathroom ban – despite what has been claimed – the judgment asked more questions than it answered. And anti-trans campaigners rushed to fill the void of uncertainty it created. They have sought to leverage their narrow legal success into total cultural victory.
The most significant harm was caused by Labour ministers who, dishonestly, praised the decision’s “clarity” and
rushed to suggest
trans women must now use men’s toilets.
The response was reckless and irresponsible. But it was also craven. A Labour government elected on a manifesto promise to “remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance” instead rushed to celebrate their imposition.
The trans-hostile so-called Equality and Human Rights Commission rushed out exclusionary
interim guidance
just nine days later. This was followed by an equally hostile draft Code of Practice which, following a legal challenge brought by Good Law Project, was
shown to be legally flawed
and had to be revised.
The actions of the Supreme Court and the Labour government have emboldened anti-trans campaigners more generally. With widespread press support, the decision of the Supreme Court is presented as a vindication of the entirety of gender critical ideology – and is regularly described as having settled the question of “what is a woman, once and for all”. The BBC uniformly refers to trans people in transphobic terms, with phrases such as “biological woman who identifies as a man”.
Encouraged by success in the courts, and supported by far-right and billionaire funders, those campaigners have used legal threats and challenges to force ideological compliance. Sex Matters are
suing Hampstead Ponds
for remaining trans inclusive. And the Women’s Institute and Girlguiding have capitulated to demands that they exclude their trans members,
despite an offer
by Good Law Project to defend and indemnify them against any challenge to their inclusivity.
And yet. In the face of relentless pressure from public institutions, the private and state media, and the human rights watchdog that is supposed to protect them – the trans community refused to buckle. They fought back. And to that community, we say: Good Law Project has felt immensely privileged to fight alongside you.
We took on the EHRC’s transphobic interim guidance and the
decision in that case
showed that the EHRC’s draft code got the law wrong. After this, it has now
had to be revised
. And we have
applied to appeal
the parts of the decision we think the High Court got wrong.
In Northern Ireland, where the EU Withdrawal Agreement guarantees that human rights will not regress beyond 2016 protections,
we are arguing
the Supreme Court’s decision does exactly that. We are
suing Virgin Active
for its exclusionary policies; we are
defending a school
which wants to remain inclusive; and
we are suing
the England and Wales Cricket Board for excluding trans people from grassroots sports. There are other cases we can’t talk about publicly yet. And, behind the scenes, we help every day to support those fighting for trans inclusion.
We have also continued to fight and win cases in other areas of trans people’s lives, such as their
right to protest
, to obtain legal
gender recognition
, and to be
respected in death
.
Perhaps most importantly, we have worked to create spaces where trans creativity and solidarity can flourish. We celebrated alongside you, and our friends at Not A Phase, at Wembley Arena at the
Trans Mission concert
. We are currently working on our
Trans Unity Quilt
, weaving your stories together into a tangible symbol of our diversity and resilience. Our joy in the flowering of human creativity is what, ultimately, guarantees that we will win out over hatred and fear.
Thank you, the whole community, and all of our supporters, who have contributed to the fight back over the last year. You have shown immeasurable strength and courage. Nothing we’ve achieved could have been achieved without you.
You’re allowed to take a moment – just a moment – after a year of struggle, to be proud of the fact that we’re still here. We’re still fighting. And no matter how long and difficult the struggle is – it is a fight we will win, together.
Part of campaign
Stop the UK’s attack on trans people
View campaign
Stop the UK’s attack on trans people
Together we can stand against hate
Join the fight
Donate now
Stay up to date and be the first to hear about how to take action
We use limited cookies
We use cookies where necessary to allow us to understand how people interact with our website and content, so that we can continue to improve our service.
View our privacy policy
More Options
Choose which cookies to allow
Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics 4
Meta (Facebook)
Google ads
TikTok
Confirm your choices
Skip to main content
Latest
16 April 2026
A year under attack – and a year fighting back
By
Jess O’Thomson and Jolyon Maugham
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Part of campaign
Stop the UK’s attack on trans people
View campaign
Stop the UK’s attack on trans people
Jess O’Thomson and Jolyon Maugham reflect on what has happened in the year since the Supreme Court’s judgment, and how the trans community has courageously fought back
Stay up to date and be the first to hear about how to take action
Sign up
A year ago today, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment on the meaning of “sex” under the Equality Act 2010.
The Court refused to hear from trans people – the group most profoundly affected by the case – and then dismantled a decades-old understanding of how they were protected by the Equality Act. And the powerful criticisms of the decision did not stop with the process by which it was reached. It was, for us as lawyers, a deeply shameful moment which infantilised and pathologised trans existence: a Dred Scott moment for our Supreme Court. YouGov polling shows a
collapse in confidence
in the legal system amongst trans people, and it’s not hard to understand why.
But we also know that the judiciary is not a monolith – not all judges will fail as the Supreme Court failed. And we continue to believe that the law has a role to play. The law does not help trans people as it should – but that does not mean it cannot help trans people at all.
Force the government to rip up the EHRC’s transphobic guidance
Email your MP
Although the Supreme Court’s decision never required a bathroom ban – despite what has been claimed – the judgment asked more questions than it answered. And anti-trans campaigners rushed to fill the void of uncertainty it created. They have sought to leverage their narrow legal success into total cultural victory.
The most significant harm was caused by Labour ministers who, dishonestly, praised the decision’s “clarity” and
rushed to suggest
trans women must now use men’s toilets.
The response was reckless and irresponsible. But it was also craven. A Labour government elected on a manifesto promise to “remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance” instead rushed to celebrate their imposition.
The trans-hostile so-called Equality and Human Rights Commission rushed out exclusionary
interim guidance
just nine days later. This was followed by an equally hostile draft Code of Practice which, following a legal challenge brought by Good Law Project, was
shown to be legally flawed
and had to be revised.
The actions of the Supreme Court and the Labour government have emboldened anti-trans campaigners more generally. With widespread press support, the decision of the Supreme Court is presented as a vindication of the entirety of gender critical ideology – and is regularly described as having settled the question of “what is a woman, once and for all”. The BBC uniformly refers to trans people in transphobic terms, with phrases such as “biological woman who identifies as a man”.
Encouraged by success in the courts, and supported by far-right and billionaire funders, those campaigners have used legal threats and challenges to force ideological compliance. Sex Matters are
suing Hampstead Ponds
for remaining trans inclusive. And the Women’s Institute and Girlguiding have capitulated to demands that they exclude their trans members,
despite an offer
by Good Law Project to defend and indemnify them against any challenge to their inclusivity.
And yet. In the face of relentless pressure from public institutions, the private and state media, and the human rights watchdog that is supposed to protect them – the trans community refused to buckle. They fought back. And to that community, we say: Good Law Project has felt immensely privileged to fight alongside you.
We took on the EHRC’s transphobic interim guidance and the
decision in that case
showed that the EHRC’s draft code got the law wrong. After this, it has now
had to be revised
. And we have
applied to appeal
the parts of the decision we think the High Court got wrong.
In Northern Ireland, where the EU Withdrawal Agreement guarantees that human rights will not regress beyond 2016 protections,
we are arguing
the Supreme Court’s decision does exactly that. We are
suing Virgin Active
for its exclusionary policies; we are
defending a school
which wants to remain inclusive; and
we are suing
the England and Wales Cricket Board for excluding trans people from grassroots sports. There are other cases we can’t talk about publicly yet. And, behind the scenes, we help every day to support those fighting for trans inclusion.
We have also continued to fight and win cases in other areas of trans people’s lives, such as their
right to protest
, to obtain legal
gender recognition
, and to be
respected in death
.
Perhaps most importantly, we have worked to create spaces where trans creativity and solidarity can flourish. We celebrated alongside you, and our friends at Not A Phase, at Wembley Arena at the
Trans Mission concert
. We are currently working on our
Trans Unity Quilt
, weaving your stories together into a tangible symbol of our diversity and resilience. Our joy in the flowering of human creativity is what, ultimately, guarantees that we will win out over hatred and fear.
Thank you, the whole community, and all of our supporters, who have contributed to the fight back over the last year. You have shown immeasurable strength and courage. Nothing we’ve achieved could have been achieved without you.
You’re allowed to take a moment – just a moment – after a year of struggle, to be proud of the fact that we’re still here. We’re still fighting. And no matter how long and difficult the struggle is – it is a fight we will win, together.
Part of campaign
Stop the UK’s attack on trans people
View campaign
Stop the UK’s attack on trans people
Together we can stand against hate
Join the fight
Donate now
Stay up to date and be the first to hear about how to take action