Girlguiding’s Difficult Decision on Trans Membership
So, here’s what’s been unfolding around Girlguiding, and it’s a pretty significant development. The organisation has announced that trans girls and young women will no longer be allowed to join any of its youth groups. This includes Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, and Rangers. The news has been shared as a “difficult decision,” and the timing follows months of legal reviews and internal discussions triggered by a major Supreme Court ruling earlier this year.
To give some context, back in 2017, Girlguiding updated its policies to welcome trans girls, aiming to support “all girls and young women.” But things changed after the Supreme Court clarified in April that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 should be interpreted as referring to biological sex. Once that ruling was handed down, many organisations across the country had to re-evaluate what this meant for their own policies, and Girlguiding was no exception.
According to the organisation, there was extensive internal consultation before the final decision was reached. Expert legal advice was taken, senior members and young members were involved, and the Board of Trustees weighed it all carefully. As a result, Girlguiding has now updated its Equality and Diversity Policy to state that only applicants who are “biologically female” will be accepted as new young members.
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The organisation acknowledged that this update might upset some members of the community. It was emphasised that the decision wasn’t something they wanted to make, but rather something they felt obliged to do in response to the ruling. They also clarified that while the restriction applies immediately to new members, current young members won’t experience immediate changes. More detailed guidance for them is expected to be shared next week.
For adults, most volunteer roles—like helpers and administrative support—remain open to all genders. So Girlguiding does not anticipate that volunteers will have to leave. And despite the shift, the group insisted that it remains committed to supporting people from marginalised communities and that a new task force will be created to explore ways to reinforce this commitment going forward.
Outside the organisation, legal experts and activists have continued to voice concerns over how the Supreme Court ruling might affect trans people more broadly, particularly when it comes to accessing gendered spaces. Some legal commentators have even argued that the ruling has been misinterpreted, suggesting the Equality Act was meant to protect people—not exclude them.
So, while the organisation itself is trying to balance legal obligations with its long-standing value of inclusion, the broader conversation about rights, spaces, and equality isn’t going away anytime soon.
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