Changes in policy regarding trans rights and associated views have covered a vast range of topics. The case arose when
Maya Forstater sued her employer, the Centre for Global Development Europe, after her contract was not renewed after she expressed gender-critical beliefs. In April 2021, the British
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) submitted evidence supporting Forstater in the case.
Gender recognition In the late 2010s, several groups were formed in response to the proposed reforms to the Gender Recognition Act, including
Fair Play for Women,
For Women Scotland, and
Woman's Place UK. In February 2022,
Vice News reported on leaked sections of an unpublished 2021 EHRC guidance document advising businesses and organizations to exclude transgender individuals from single-sex spaces—such as toilets, hospital wards, and changing rooms—unless they possessed a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). According to the report, the guidance, intended for release in January 2022 but unpublished as of February, was framed as protecting women. It also noted that 1% of transgender people in the UK held a GRC. In June 2022, the EHRC stated that transgender people could be excluded from single-sex spaces as long as it serves a legitimate aim, such as "privacy, decency, to prevent trauma or to ensure health and safety". In July 2024, the EHRC issued further guidance clarifying that sex-based occupational requirements included sex as defined by a GRC but that, under Schedule 9 of the
Equality Act 2010, employers were allowed to exclude transgender individuals, including those with a GRC, from roles with sex-based occupational restrictions. The guidance emphasised that the basis and justification for any such restrictions must be clearly stated in job advertisements. In April 2025, the
Supreme Court ruled in
For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers that the definitions of "sex", "man", and "woman" in the Equality Act 2010 were meant to refer to biological sex, thus excluding people who hold a GRC from these definitions. The court said that trans people could still bring sex discrimination cases "not only against discrimination through the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, but also against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment in substance in their acquired gender". Shortly thereafter, the EHRC issued guidance in which they declared trans women to be "biological men" and trans men to be "biological women", and that they must be excluded from gender-segregated spaces accordingly. The guidance applies to any school, workplace, sporting body, publicly accessible service (such as restaurants, shops, hospitals, or shelters), and any association of 25 people or more. The guidance stated that while trans women and trans men must be barred from the women's and men's facilities, respectively, they could also be barred from the men's and women's as well, so long as there is at least one facility available for them to use. However, the guidance also stated that if only mixed-sex facilities were available, this could constitute discrimination against women, and that the presence of segregated spaces was compulsory in the workplace. The guidance also stated that women-only and lesbian-only groups must bar trans women from entry.
Healthcare restrictions Bell v Tavistock In 2020, the High Court ruled in a case championed by a number of anti-trans groups and figures that transgender patients under the age of 16 could not receive
puberty blockers to prevent the development of unwanted secondary sex characteristics. This decision led to the withdrawal of care for many patients, resulting in some undergoing the puberty of their assigned gender at birth. According to a clinician speaking to iNews, this decision has led to many patients over the age of 16 having their gender-related healthcare withdrawn, even when it did not involve puberty blockers. In late 2021, the ruling was overturned on appeal, allowing puberty-suppressing treatment to resume.
Cass Review In April 2024, the Cass Review into
NHS England's youth gender services published its final report. The review's recommendations were largely welcomed by the British medical community. However, numerous international academics and medical organisations criticised the review's methodology and findings. The
World Professional Association for Transgender Health criticised the review's methodology and evidence base, stating that it "deprives young trans and gender diverse people of the high-quality care they deserve". The review received widespread support from UK politicians and political parties, as well as gender-critical groups such as
Sex Matters,
Transgender Trend, and
Woman's Place UK.
Julie Bindel said the review "vindicated" people with gender critical views. The review's findings led to bans on the use of puberty blockers for transgender children, both within the NHS and in
private healthcare.
Wes Streeting, Hilary Cass, and the
Commission on Human Medicines said a lack of evidence and concerns over safety were the reasons for the ban. This position was disputed by several international medical organisations, including the
American Academy of Pediatrics, the
Canadian Paediatric Society, the
Endocrine Society, and the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology; Many GPs also began withdrawing hormone treatment from adult trans patients, citing the Cass Review—despite the review only applying to youth services.
Conversion therapy In 2015, health organizations across the UK signed the
Memorandum of Understanding on Conversion Therapy (MoU), a statement opposing conversion therapy for lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. In 2017, the MoU was updated to include opposition to conversion therapy for transgender individuals. In 2022, the
Conservative government under
Boris Johnson reversed plans to include conversion therapy targeting gender identity in a proposed ban on the practice. This decision followed lobbying by gender-critical groups and drew condemnation from the coalition behind the MoU, which published an open letter criticising the government's decision. In response to the backlash, the government cancelled its first LGBTQ conference after members withdrew in protest. The gender-critical group
Transgender Trend criticised the coalition's letter, referencing the interim findings of the
Cass Review. The Cass Review's interim report said that affirmative approaches were not neutral, and that some professionals were scared to take "an exploratory approach or challenging approach" due to perceived pressures from organisations taking an "ideological stance". It suggested there was "a fear of being labelled transphobic" if professionals tried to explore or investigate the causes of gender non-conformity in children. In 2024,
Hilary Cass, who chaired the review, told
Kemi Badenoch that the proposed conversion therapy ban was risky and told
The Guardian that she'd been "really clear with the government that any legislation would have to take inordinate care to not make workforce problems worse than they are". The statement said: This document seems to view gender incongruence largely as a mental health disorder or a state of confusion and withholds gender-affirming treatments on this basis. WPATH, ASIAPATH, EPATH, PATHA, and USPATH call attention to the fact that this "psychotherapeutic" approach, which was used for decades before being superseded by evidence-based gender-affirming care, has not been shown to be effective (AUSPATH, 2021; Coleman et al., 2022). Indeed, the denial of gender-affirming treatment under the guise of "exploratory therapy" has caused enormous harm to the transgender and gender diverse community and is tantamount to "conversion" or "reparative" therapy under another name. In 2022, an NHS conference on gender dysphoria was cancelled following complaints by NHS whistleblowers, researchers, and trans rights activists, who accused a majority of the speakers as having a "record of extreme prejudice towards trans people".
openDemocracy said the speakers had "close links to proponents of anti-trans conversion therapies". In November 2023, the
UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) issued a statement on gender-critical views, asserting that practitioners holding such views might favor
conversion therapy over
gender-affirming care, particularly for children and young adults with gender dysphoria. In April 2024, the UKCP withdrew from the MoU and the Coalition Against Conversion Therapy, saying it did not want to oppose conversion therapy for young trans people. This decision was criticised by other MoU signatories and over 1,500 UKCP members.
Education In December 2021, the
Girls' Day School Trust, the largest network of girls'
private schools in the UK, issued a blanket ban on trans girls being admitted to any of its schools. In August 2022, Attorney-General
Suella Braverman stated that it is lawful for schools to misgender,
deadname, and exclude transgender students from certain sports; to deny enrolment based on their transgender status; and to refuse any form of gender affirmation. She further said that recognising transgender identities could be considered "indoctrinating children". In March 2025,
University of Sussex was fined £585,000 by the Office for Students (OfS) in relation to its transgender and nonbinary equality policy, over the resignation of
Kathleen Stock. The Office for Students stated that the policy created a "chilling effect" and "placed constraints on
freedom of speech and
academic freedom". The university's policy stated curricula should avoid "stereotypical assumptions about trans people", forbade "transphobic abuse, harassment or bullying", that course materials should "positively represent trans people and trans lives", and that "transphobic propaganda [would] not be tolerated". The university challenged the ruling with a judicial review. Sasha Roseneil, the university's vice-chancellor, claimed the investigation had been politically motivated, warning of dire implications for higher education, as potential fines were so large. In April 2026, the High Court overturned the judgement, finding that, among other criticisms, that "the OfS had misdirected itself on the question of what amounted to a break of academic freedom", and that "the OfS approached the decision with a closed mind and therefore unlawfully predetermined the decision". In July 2025, new education guidance was implemented regarding the teaching of transgender topics in schools in England mandating that students must carefully be taught a person's rights held on the basis of "biological sex" and how the rights of a trans person of a particular gender differ from the rights of someone assigned that gender at birth. Additionally, schools are forbidden from encouraging children to question their gender, or from teaching that everyone has a gender identity; and must not advocate for social transition as a "simple solution".
Sport Restrictions on participation in sport have been a significant focus of the anti-trans movement in the UK. In September 2021, the UK Sports Council Equality Group issued guidance asserting that, in their view, transgender inclusion and "competitive fairness" cannot coexist in sport. The SCEG based its guidance on 300 interviews regarding personal opinions on the matter, conducted across 54 sports and 175 organisations. 20 of those interviewed were trans people. In June 2022,
Nadine Dorries, the UK
Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport at the time, met with the heads of UK sporting bodies and stated that "elite and competitive women's sport must be reserved for people born of the female sex". Since then, transgender women have been banned from competing in
women's sports across various disciplines, including cycling and fishing.
Rape law Under 2024 guidance published by the
Crown Prosecution Service, trans people who fail to disclose their
birth sex to a sexual partner, whether deliberately or not, can be charged with
rape.
Prisons As of 2023, trans women imprisoned in England and Wales are to be housed in men's prisons if they have committed any violent or sexual crime, or if they have male genitalia. In late 2023, it was announced that trans women in Scotland would be sent to a men's prison only if they were convicted of or awaiting trial for a crime against a woman, and were considered to be a risk to women and girls. == International responses ==