The April UK Supreme Court ruling which confirmed that man and woman are defined by biological sex is now, many months later, being recognised by two of the UK’s best known groups for females, although evidently with extreme reluctance in both cases.
The Girl Guides Association, the 1910-founded originator of the worldwide Girl Scouting movement created by Chief Scout Robert Baden-Powell’s wife Agnes, and the 19th century-era The National Federation of Women’s Institutes both announced within hours of each other that they would no longer accept what they called “trans girls” and “transgender women” as members or volunteers.
British newspaper The Sun notes the Girl Guides were essentially forced into recanting their previous position by the threat of legal action. A legal letter by concerned parents of girls told the youth organisation that their children had their dignity violated and are vulnerable to “intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment” from “sharing toilets, showers or changing facilities with boys, contact sports with boys, and sharing accommodation with boys, all without their prior knowledge or consent.”
In response to the looming threat of legal action, backed up by April’s Supreme Court ruling, the Girl Guides said through their lawyer that “In line with the Equality Act 2010 definition, girl and woman refers to those who are biologically female (however they identify)”.
Blocking biological boys as members clearly rankled, however, and a further statement spoke of a “difficult decision” and “heavy heart”, and said they were still looking for “opportunities to champion” what they called “young people and adults in marginalised groups” in the girls’ organisation. They said:
Following April’s Supreme Court decision relating to sex and gender, many organisations across the country have been facing complex decisions about what it means for girls and women and for the wider communities affected. Girlguiding’s governing charity documents set out that the membership and people who benefit from our organisation are girls and women. The Supreme Court ruled that girls and women are defined in the Equality Act 2010 by their biological sex at birth.
… Girlguiding has made the difficult decision that Girlguiding must change… From today, 2 December, it is with a heavy heart that we are announcing trans girls and young women will no longer be able to join Girlguiding. This is a decision we would have preferred not to make, and we know that this may be upsetting for members of our community.
Biological males would still be welcomed as volunteers in adult roles, however, the organisation confirmed.
The Times reports a parent behind the legal letter that triggered the change hailed the decision and said: “Safeguarding for girls should never have been jettisoned for the sake of an ideology but it has been restored at long last. This is a victory for girls and women everywhere, and a victory for common sense.”
On Wednesday, the Women’s Institute — a predominantly rural, agriculture and homecraft-focussed social organisation — followed suite and made a similar statement. Like the Girl Guides, the venerable organisation counter-signalled its own decision, stating recognising that it is in fact a charity for women comes “with the utmost regret and sadness… this change is only in respect to our membership policy and does not change our firm belief that transgender women are women”.
Men who presently have Women’s Institute memberships will not have them renewed when the new membership period begins in 2026.
Canterbury Member of Parliament Rosie Duffield, who has long been a critic of the now-governing Labour Party over its transgender policies and quit the party last year, welcomed the change by the organisations. The Daily Telegraph reports she said: “I am really glad that finally the Women’s Institute has seen sense and realised that they exist primarily as a women’s organisation. It’s time other bodies, such as the NHS, the Civil Service and gym groups, followed their lead, and the law”.
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