Girlguiding trans ban: Where all the protests are happening this weekend

Several protests are taking place in response to the ban (John Stillwell – WPA Pool / Getty Images)

Protests are set to take place across the UK this weekend over Girlguiding’s widely-slammed decision to completely ban trans girls from becoming members.

At the start of December, Girlguiding – the national governing charity that oversees girl guide groups in the UK and which previously said it was “proudly trans inclusive” – announced it had made the “difficult decision” toban all trans girls from its groups, which includes Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, and Rangers.

The organisation cited the controversial Supreme Court judgement from April in the case ofFor Women Scotland vs Scottish Ministers – which decided the protected characteristic of “sex” for the purposes of the 2010 Equality Act means “biological sex” only and excludes trans people – as the reason for its sweeping decision.

In a statement, the organisation said the exclusionary move was made following “detailed considerations”, “expert legal advice” and feedback from members. Despite these alleged detailed considerations, Girlguiding confirmed to PinkNews that it has never kept data on trans members and so has no clue how many children could be barred from participation.

A group of children in yellow and brown Brownies uniforms holding up their hats for a picture. — The Brownies are among one of the Girlguiding groups that now bans trans girls. (Getty)

Trans girls were first officially allowed to become members in2017after Girlguiding passed new guidelines aimed at supporting “all girls and young women”. However, the organisation’s updated equality and diversity policy now states it will only accept “biologically female” members regardless of “however they identify” – which they say includes trans boys – as this is “in line with the Equality Act 2010 definition”, as per the Supreme Court ruling.

The decision has been widely condemned by current and former members alike, with some Girlguiding leaders telling PinkNews they will refuse to enforce the ban, thousands of people signing a petition calling for the decision to be reversed and This Morning‘s Ashley James resigning as a Girlguiding ambassador due to the ban.

Following the ban, several protests have been planned by campaign group GirlguidingForAll in major cities across the UK, including London, Edinburgh and Cardiff.