I wish I could be shocked but this has pretty much been the Labour government I’ve come to expect. They’re so scared of loudmouths who will never be pleased by anything they do yet keep pandering to them. Instead of using the five years to make a difference, they’re too focused on the next election already.

Anyone with an issue with trans people clearly doesn’t know a trans person. I’ve taught quite a few trans students and, quite honestly, the other students mostly don’t care and are supportive. Whenever you do hear anything, it’s usually something that’s been parroted from home. I remember one boy telling me he ‘didn’t agree with it’ in one breath and saying he was fully supportive of the trans girl in his class in the next.

And they say it’s the teachers that are indoctrinating children…

Spineless without a doubt, but then again politicians, backtracking and lying is hardly anything new, just extremely disappointing considering one of them is the prime minister of the country,

It’s everything about appearing socially conservative for votes off Reform rather than him actually believing what he says. He’s a liberal London lawyer at the end of the day.

That’s not good enough though? Why spend time trying to court people who will NEVER vote for him? Even his comments today have been heavily criticised by the TERFs who aren’t content with their supposed ‘victory’.

It was a LONG 5 years between general elections and it felt longer because this Labour shower kept courting right wingers. I was adamant I would vote Labour because we needed to get the Tories out and he kept making that so difficult. In the end, I couldn’t do it-partly down to comments he made about trans people just before the election and mainly because this Labour Party showed their colours when it comes to Wales. I didn’t vote for them in the end and I’m quite glad I don’t have it on my conscience.

Apologies, I’ve been pretty angry about this all day. I haven’t forgotten how awful the Tories were and I can’t be having with reform. But this Labour Party was supposed to be about change and it feels like they’re just playing to the usual loudmouths. I remember ‘Kier has to say these things, he’ll become more liberal once he’s in’ and though some things they’ve done well, this hasn’t come into force.

According to the ruling, a trans man remains a woman. Therefore, a woman can have a penis.

I’m in agreement with you @T Boy just pointing out the electoral politics behind it. Unfort many northern old Labour seats are a straight fight between reform and Labour now so to win these votes he acts socially conservatives to appeal to these people ahead of Reform. But as you say he can never be right wing enough for some of them.

Edited April 22Apr 22 by Steve201

The most disappointing thing is that the ruling, quite apart from being stressed that it was not an excuse to attack any group over another (which the media, TERFs and now politicians are roundly ignoring), was just saying that the text of the Equalities Act was not being superseded by the Gender Recognition Act.

This is therefore a sign that the language of the Equalities Act needs updating to cover eventualities such as trans people. If the Labour Party had a fucking spine, they would begin working on that legislation to update the law. Instead, they seem to have forgotten they are a government with a huge majority to actually make law, and they are all folding as they, like most other political parties on this aisle, begin the futile task of chasing an ever-shrinking group of voters, who are all going to vote the most reactionary party anyway.

As Yanis Varoukasis said “"I prefer to have bast*rds in power who claim to be bast*rds, representing the aristocracy, than bast*rds in power who claim to be representing the working class."

It's all just depressing. Whilst nothing has technically changed, the ruling has opened the floodgates to so much already. The responses from Starmer and Phillipson are so so disappointing, if not totally surprising given what Labour seems to be about these days. It just feels so bleak. Trans people just want to live their lives free from harassment and abuse, and the government seems intent on not even leaving them the dignity of using the bathroom associated with their gender. My heart aches for the trans community, and anyone else who identifies as gender non-conforming in one way or another. I dread to think what sort of consequences of that supreme court ruling we're going to hear in the coming weeks.

5 hours ago, Liam S said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crldey0z00ro

Ultimately this is not surprising in any way shape or form.

Despite having 4.5 years ahead of them in power and a massive minority they’re acting like a minority government days away from announcing a dogfight of an election. You cannot govern catering to a narrow by noisy minority and by stooping to their level all you do is legitimise their shite and move the Overton Window further.

They have a huge majority, it’s a shame to see how utterly unambitious they are. They could simply brush this under the carpet with a swift „hmmm, yes. I see. Well we are grateful to the petitioners for making us aware of the various passages of the Equalities Act that require modernisation. We will bring forward in due course an amendment to the Equalities Act to better reflect the updates brought forward by the Gender Recognition bill and codify the rights and dignity of all the vulnerable, minority and marginalised communities protected by the Equalities Act“ and then be firm but fair with „we will change the equalities act to ensure the dignity of all, why are you discriminating against a protected minority?“

If anyone still doesn't realise that the country is actually run by the Daily Mail, not whoever happens to have a Commons majority, Starmer's response should dispel any doubt.

^^

That's similar to how I'm feeling about it all. It's all just so depressing, the shift in power over the past decade has been torturous to watch

That’s what is so infuriating and spineless is absolutely the perfect word to use. The Labour Party as it is now has absolutely no foundations or morals, and a complete lack of awareness that they only won the election because people were so fed up of the Tories and there is little other option. It could have been a real chance to actually have some left wing ideas to change the country for the better, but I had no faith that Kier Starmer would even do it because he u-turns on everything at the drop of a hat. Like Kier and Angela were pictured at Pride not even a year ago, acting like allies, and then the party is supporting this;

It’s disconcerting that there is just no hope for left wing politics in the UK because Labour aren’t just “Tory lite” centrists that’s just pure doing the same as the Tories now.

Yeah, the media runs this country and the influential, corrupt and rich stooges working there have all decided which side of the trans debate they fall on so that's why it never actually has any trans voices except painting them in a bad light and why all the publicity always goes to the other side and painted up as supporting women. Honestly, these online spaces are a rarity I see in sticking up for trans people, public opinion is generally on the side of Rowling et al, (Private Eye always saves her from mocking, which is seriously disappointing) there is a serious lack of understanding of empathy and understanding when it comes to this group and the general gender dysphoria that surrounds it. Which is horrible really, because every trans student I've met in my job just wants to be understood and respected as the gender they're in, and I think it's reasonable to say that that is what most of them are rather than these awful stereotypes proved pretty much baseless.

Amongst all this gloom though, I do still have hope - for one, we all know most of the loudest voices are aging and won't be around to spout their hatred forever and the audience will increasingly not listen and I genuinely cannot see how any guidance like bathrooms can be enforced? It could actually make the other side look worse as there would be blatant discrimination and targetting of any woman that simply doesn't look feminine enough.

27 minutes ago, dandy* said:

^^

That's similar to how I'm feeling about it all. It's all just so depressing, the shift in power over the past decade has been torturous to watch

As I have always said the 80s was when they tried to dismantle the economic left wing system and now is when they are undoing the social progress of the 1964 + era!

On 22/04/2025 at 16:15, Jessie Where said:

What a spineless, unprincipled shit.

100% I was so f**king mad at him!

The attitude of Starmer/Labour is very disappointing but not that surprising - they approach and frame everything through focus groups, which generally lean towards the more reactionary parts of the population spectrum (in turn amplified by the media). I've shared the Tony Benn quote about signposts and weathercocks before, but I still think that true leadership is making a principled point and standing by it and attempting to change public opinion, even if that may lose you support in the short term.

There's a great article from Helen Belcher (a Lib dem councillor in Wiltshire) discussing the impact of this ruling, and I'd urge anyone on here who agrees with the ruling to read it. I've also shared a quote from a mother who wrote in to the Guardian last week which moved me.

https://bylinetimes.com/2025/04/22/the-supreme-court-trans-verdict-is-a-victory-for-uncertainty-division-and-harassment/

I am a mother. A mother to a transgender daughter who is about to turn 18. My daughter has rightly been devastated about this ruling and what it means for her and her hopes for the future. She hoped that the gender recognition certificate would acknowledge her identity, but she now feels her dreams have been obliterated. I would like to ask the women who have campaigned for this ruling: how many transgender women do you know? How many have you spoken to? Have you thought about what this means to them?

My daughter does not want to be an athlete and compete in the Olympics or sit on a board in Scotland – she wants a normal life. A normal life is being able to drink fluids when you are at college. I’ve seen my daughter severely dehydrated, putting her health at risk, because she is too scared to go to the toilet.

My daughter is so brave to go out every day and face the staring, the remarks, the laughing. Transgender women already have so much to overcome. The protections stated in the Equality Act do not protect from the narrow-minded, the cruel and the heartless. On Wednesday, I was ashamed to be a woman.

Keir Starmer said he doesn't believe that trans women are women. I can't imagine how betrayed Esther Ghey (Brianna Ghey's mother) must feel.