Girlguiding announced that transgender girls must leave the organization by September 2025. Major media reports indicate the policy change restricts membership to 'girls and young women', meaning those whose birth sex is male must leave.
The policy change follows the April 2025 Supreme Court ruling that determined 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological woman and biological sex. According to major media reports, the Supreme Court ruling in April 2025 asserted that trans people remain, for certain narrow legal purposes, the sex they were assigned at birth.
Girlguiding carried out detailed considerations, expert legal advice, and input from senior members, young members, its council, and board of trustees before the decision, according to major media reports. The organization previously refused to accept the trans Supreme Court ruling but has since appeared to U-turn on their decision, according to major media reports.
There are pragmatic solutions to navigating risk and no evidence of harm from including trans members.
The specific legal reasoning behind the policy remains unclear beyond the cited Supreme Court ruling. Girlguiding does not collect gender identity information on its members, so it has no figures on how many transgender members are affected, creating uncertainty about the policy's scale.
A 10-year-old transgender girl is affected by the policy change and is sad to leave her friends, according to major media reports. According to the parents, a six-year-old child attempted genital self-harm with plastic scissors after learning trans girls are banned from Rainbows.
Research from two sources indicates the child, born with male genitalia, identifies as female and is recognized as such by the parents. According to the parents, the child attended a Rainbows taster session and was told by Girlguiding they would be treated like any other.
Girlguiding has misled boys into false promises.
Research from two sources indicates the child's friends left Rainbows in solidarity, and an adult volunteer resigned due to the exclusion. According to Daily Mirror - Main, Angela described there being pragmatic solutions to navigating risk and no evidence of harm from including trans members, but why Girlguiding didn't adopt these approaches remains unknown.
Research from two sources indicates trans women in leadership roles must step down or move to open roles by September 6, 2026. Girlguiding previously said in December 2025 that no volunteers would have to leave, but the new policy contradicts this, according to research from two sources.
The policy change prompted backlash, including a group called Guiders Against Trans Exclusion (Gate) with over 450 volunteer signatures on a resignation letter, according to research from two sources. According to The Observer understands, some Girlguiding staff privately support Gate and its call to reverse the decision.
Our belief in dignity, respect, and inclusion remains unchanged despite the policy.
The full extent of internal dissent within Girlguiding regarding policy implementation is not publicly known. Legal action against Girlguiding was previously launched by a former unit leader over safeguarding concerns regarding toilets, changing rooms, and dormitories, according to major media reports.
Research from two sources indicates the UK High Court ruled in February that employers may bar trans people from using gendered bathrooms at work. The UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission has circulated draft guidance allowing trans exclusion from public facilities based on appearance, according to research from two sources.
Trans people are frequently positioned as a threat to free speech, public spaces, and wider society, which is manufactured, according to major media reports. According to GB News, gender-critic campaigner described Girlguiding as having misled boys into false promises.
Girlguiding units have an estimated 385,000 members aged 4-18 in the UK, per the BBC, though there is disagreement on membership figures with some reports stating over 300,000 girls and 80,000 volunteers. Violations of the policy are subject to Girlguiding's complaints procedure, according to research from two sources.
How Girlguiding will enforce the policy if it relies on self-identification and does not collect gender identity data remains an open question. Girlguiding leaders stated that 'Our belief in dignity, respect, and inclusion remains unchanged despite the policy.'