Since the recent Supreme Court decision on For Women Scotland vs. The Scottish Ministers and the publication of interim guidance by the EHCR, a number of organisations have changed their policies towards transgender people. Very frequently such policy changes have targeted transgender women specifically.

To date this has included the British Transport Police who have decided that transgender women will now be strip-searched by officers who are cis men and vice versa (it is unclear how officers will confirm if someone is transgender, even if they protest otherwise). The FA have also banned transgender women from participating in its leagues (despite having previously operated a case-based policy requiring prospective players to undergo an assessment and there being some 30-odd among a pool of millions).

Recently another organisation changed their policies to reflect a similar change in values: Barclays Bank. Barclays’ Group CEO, C.S. Venkatakrishnan informed reporters on a recent media call that:

“Following the Supreme Court ruling… we believe that we have to comply with that by not allowing trans women to use female bathrooms.”

Adding:

“We strive in every way to make the appropriate facilities available in a comfortable way for people to use and to provide equality of opportunities and development,”

We would like to remind everyone that neither the UKSC’s judgement nor the EHRC’s guidance are law, neither do they form a binding obligation to exclude transgender people. The former is a clarification of technical language, the latter is simply advice.

For obvious reasons this is highly disappointing. None more so than Barclays having historically being a supporter of the LGBT+ community: as a founding member of OutBritain, a regular member of Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers and taking pride in their own successes in trans employees succeeding and making accommodations for gender diverse customers (this page is no longer active on the Barclays website).

It is therefore with regret that GIRES must announce we are terminating our account with Barclays.

As a prominent UK trans charity we cannot in good faith continue to offer our custom to Barclays while they operate what we consider to be an outwardly discriminatory policy that rescinds one of the most basic dignities that can be afforded.

GIRES will instead be moving to The Co-operative Bank. In part this decision was influenced public commitments made by The Co-operative Group’s CEO, Shirine Khoury-Haq in the wake of the Supreme Court judgement, particularly contrast to those of Barclays and we commend her support.

We call upon Barclays to re-consider this policy and consider the impact it will have.

Trans+ History Week, a global week-long observance dedicated to celebrating the history of all gender diverse people, including trans, non-binary and Intersex people. See more about our History;  https://lok.gires.org.uk/

In light of this, GIRES was invited to attend the Surrey VCSE Alliance event in Guildford. This insightful and empowering event, designed for the public, charity, voluntary, and community sectors in Surrey to explore LGBTQIA+ inclusivity in the workplace and beyond. The subject of the event was – OUT IN EVERY SPACE : Intersectionality, Allyship and Action for LGBTQIA+ Community.

GIRES was fortunate to be asked to take part in being a keynote speaker at the event, our topic being: misconceptions about Transgender people, removing the objectivity and educating people on the facts and research to help them make up their own minds.

We, ourselves, joined breakout sessions, where keynote speakers shared real-life experiences and insights, shedding light on the importance of diversity and inclusion. A very thoughtful, inspiring event.

We have been contacted by a number of people asking what our response is to the Supreme Court Ruling. While we work with others, we wanted to share the following personal experience of one of our members, as we feel it is important that people understand the impact the ruling has had. This message is her personal view, but we at GIRES stand with her at this most difficult time. 

A personal view

We also believe it is essential to provide information that may be helpful to people as they attempt to understand and navigate this situation. The following is not intended as legal advice; we acknowledge the author, as their views represent our response when asked for support. 

Reclaim The Framing of UK Trans Rights

We would also encourage people to write to their MP and the Prime Minister to express their thoughts and feelings about the impact the Ruling, comments by Baroness Falkner, Chair of EHRC and the Government are having on the everyday lives of trans and gender diverse people. 

Template Letter 

EHRC’s ‘guidance’ on single sex spaces 

The EHRC have issued ‘guidance’ which is leading to news outlets and others to report it as though it is the law. This guidance is not statutory and therefore is not the law. It is the opinion of the Commission, but as has been pointed out by former judge Dr Victoria McCloud, it is likely to violate people’s fundamental human rights. TransAcutal Response to EHRC Guidance provides more details about this guidance. 

The Supreme Court ruling has many widespread and harmful implications. GIRES stands in solidarity with trans, intersex and non-binary people as we work with other LGBTQ+ organisations to navigate what the full implications are.

We need to understand fully what the ruling will mean on both legal and practical levels, and we will provide more information over the coming weeks. It is a complex ruling, but it is important to be reminded that the Supreme Court reaffirmed that the Equality Act protects trans people against discrimination, based on Gender Reassignment, and will continue to do so.

Working in partnership with the LGBT+ Consortium, we are able to offer two new training dates. Book your place via Eventbrite:

½ day Level 1 Safeguarding training 

LGBTQ+ specific Level 1 Safeguarding training, for LGBTQ+ organisations working with children & young people.

• 21^st May 10am via zoom 
• Access Eventbrite to book your place – closing date to book a place is 19^th May
• Sliding scale fees based on organisational income
• https://shorturl.at/gF8Ea

1 day Level 3 DSL Safeguarding training 

LGBTQ+ specific Designated Safeguarding Lead training, for LGBTQ+ organisations working with children & young people. 

• 24^th June 9am via zoom 
• Access Eventbrite to book your place – closing date to book a place is 18th June.
• Sliding scale fees based on organisational income
• https://shorturl.at/zXIv1

GIRES has always valued itself on our unique service, training delivery and has some recently revised ideas. These include core training sessions designed to empower teams with practical knowledge and insights: 

Introduction to Trans and Gender Diversity

Lunchtime Talks (1 hour) — These sessions are ideal for all staff, providing an introduction to trans and gender diversity that addresses key topics such as terminology, misconceptions, the importance of pronouns, and how to be a good ally. Please see the links for more information and booking.

Weds May 28th 2025  Neurodiversity & Trans Experiences  

Weds June 25th 2025 Pride & Progress

Trans and Gender Diversity Management Training: 1/2 day or full day

Tailored for managers, HR, and senior leadership, these sessions dive deeper into best practices for supporting trans and gender-diverse staff, covering areas such as recruitment, communication, leadership, and compliance with UK law. 

Both sessions include powerful video stories from people with lived experience, and participants receive helpful handouts summarising the content. 

For more details and e-mail camilla.thrush@gires.org.uk to discuss further.

Following on from the success of our Being Ready Project and the introduction of the training delivered to death, dying and bereavement workers in 2024, we are relaunching the training in June 2025 in a slightly different format.

It will be delivered by Ash Hayhurst and Angie McLachlan with two half-day sessions online, and one full-day in person (Dates to be confirmed for in-person). Past trainees include registrars, coroners, lawyers, palliative care staff, embalmers, funeral directors, celebrants and more.     

We are excited to confirm that the training dates for the rollout of the 2-day online training will be as follows:

Day 1: Tuesday 3rd June 2025 or Wednesday 18th June 2025

Day 2: Thursday 5th June 2025 or Wednesday 25th June 2025

For more information and to book your place, see here

Help us build this unique resource for the autistic trans & gender diverse community Target £25,000

We are creating a comprehensive online resource, offering a central platform that caters to the specific needs of autistic trans and gender diverse individuals, their families and professionals in the field.

NHS England has supported us with getting this project started but we want to deliver more than their funding allows. If we reach our target, this directory will provide information, articles, videos and support resources, to empower individuals with the knowledge necessary for informed decision-making and to improve the quality of care they receive.  

The directory is being created from the information gained from 1-2-1 interviews, focus groups and our online survey, all of which will provide us with valuable information about what the community needs. This type of community-led research will help us address the lack of community evidence-based information.  

There will be five sections to the directory: 

1. Information for Individuals  
2. Information for Professionals 
3. Healthcare Information 
4. Autism Resources  
5. Published Research  

With your support, GIRES can reach this goal and continue the work we’ve set out to do in this campaign.

This directory will be of huge value to autistic trans and gender diverse individuals, so please help if you can. Every donation makes a difference. Link to Donation page https://shorturl.at/7ZIkx or scan the QR code.