Hitchin transgender woman speaks out over Girlguiding and WI ban
Girlguiding and the Women's Institute have both announced that transgender women and girls will no longer be allowed to join their groups.
The change comes after the Supreme Court ruled in April that within the 2010 Equality Act, the term 'women' relates to biological women.
The Women's Institute said it could "no longer legally offer formal membership to transgender women in light of this judgment", but would "bring forward programmes to continue to extend fellowship, sisterhood, and support to transgender women".
CEO Melissa Green said: "It is with the utmost regret and sadness that we must announce that, from April 2026, we can no longer offer formal membership to transgender women.
"As an organisation that has proudly welcomed transgender women into our membership for more than 40 years, this is not something we would do unless we felt that we had no other choice."
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Girlguiding said: "Trans girls and young women, and others not recorded female at birth, will no longer be able to join Girlguiding as new young members.
"Girlguiding believes strongly in inclusion, and we will continue to support young people and adults in marginalised groups. Over the next few months, we will explore potential ways to champion this value. A new taskforce will look at ways to do this, in partnership with members."
Katie Wilson, a transgender woman who lives in Hitchin and co-founded North Herts Pride, said these decisions feel like “a retreat into convenience rather than an effort to uphold dignity".
She added: “Rules may be rules, but fairness is about how organisations respond to those caught in the fallout.
"Exclusion is administratively simple; inclusion requires imagination, resources and courage.
"What saddens me most is that trans women are being punished simply for being themselves.”
More
Membership, she explained, is not just paperwork, but access to networks, support and belonging.
"For trans women, being told they no longer qualify is a symbolic and practical loss that compounds isolation — especially at Christmas, when loneliness already spikes,” she said.
Advocacy groups have urged organisations to consider alternatives, such as associate roles, funded outreach, or partnerships with trans‑led charities.
