Trans girls blocked from joining Girlguiding in the UK

Girlguiding has announced that trans girls will no longer be able to join its youth groups, following a controversial Supreme Court ruling earlier this year which clarified that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex.

The decision, described by the organisation as “difficult”, means that membership will be restricted to those recorded female at birth. The charity, which runs Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers for girls aged four to 18, said the move came after “detailed considerations, expert legal advice and input from senior members, young members, its council and board of trustees”.

Yet another horrible act of violence against the most vulnerable trans people

Girlguiding currently has around 300,000 young members and 80,000 volunteers across the UK. While the restriction applies immediately to new members, existing young members will not be affected for now, with further guidance expected next week. Most adult volunteer roles remain open to all genders, although some female-only positions will also be impacted. 

In a joint statement, chairwoman of trustees Denise Wilson, chief executive Felicity Oswald and chief guide Tracy Foster said: “Girlguiding has reached the difficult decision that going forward, membership will be restricted to girls and young women, as defined in the Equality Act (2010). From today, trans girls and young women, and others not recorded female at birth, will no longer be able to join Girlguiding as new young members.”

Trans rights organisation TransActual described the policy change as “yet another horrible act of violence against the most vulnerable trans people”.

Tammy Hymas, policy lead for TransActual, said: “It’s awful that an organisation, which would happily be inclusive and has been for many years, is being forced to exclude young trans girls by adults with bigotries and institutional power. There is no problem being solved here, only harm being done.

“Our thoughts are with the young people who may be outed by their exclusion, or lose access to their vital social groups and support networks.”