Trans lives and defiance following the For Women Scotland UK Supreme Court ruling

This article explores responses and strategies of UK trans and gender diverse (TGD+) people for dealing with the immediate aftermath of the April 2025 UK Supreme Court judgement in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers which emerged amid intensifying trans-hostile socio-legal change, governance and gender fascism in the UK. Evidence is emerging about the unprecedented impact of this ruling on TGD+ people across the UK, particularly through its interpretation by, and the subsequent actions of, Great Britain’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) via its ‘interim update’ and Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations, alongside aligned developments constraining trans recognition and participation within, and access to, everyday and critical spaces and services. Drawing on research conducted immediately following the judgement, I demonstrate that in its aftermath TGD+ people continued to surface trans joy, defiant in refusal to comply with proposals that would restrict the scope of their everyday lives and determined to continue as before. I also interrogate the surfacing of trans joy as UK legislation and policy is restricting trans people’s access to crucial services and spaces, force them to ‘out’ themselves and place them at disproportionate risk of violence and harassment.