Around 100 people gathered outside Girlguiding's Edinburgh headquarters to protest the organization's decision to exclude trans girls from membership. The demonstration, organized by Guiders Against Trans Exclusion, directly challenges the policy change announced on December 2 following an April Supreme Court ruling on biological sex.
The protest brought together members of the Girlguiding community, parents, and young children. Demonstrators sang Guiding songs, recited the organization's Promise, and displayed placards reading "A Guide is a sister, not a cister" and "This cowardly ban harms children."
One anonymous father shared a particularly harrowing account. His six-year-old trans daughter, who had attended a trial Rainbows session, began self-harming after learning she could no longer participate. His statement, read at the protest, described her experience: «She attended a trial at Rainbows. She wasn't a girl looking in. She didn't stand out, she was one more girl in a circle of girls. My daughter didn't come for special treatment.»
Community backlash
Protesters described the decision as «disgusting» and said it «harms all children, not only trans children.»
Marnie Collin, a psychotherapist and mother-of-three with a step-daughter in Guides and a non-binary youngest child, brought her family to the demonstration. «We want our children to know that even if they feel powerless, they can get together with other people and make change happen. It's a shame,» she said. Collin criticized what she sees as external pressure on the organization: «It seems as if the organisation has had its arm twisted to do this. I think it sends out a bad message to give into force.»
Eloise Lawrence, 21, who organized the protest and has been involved in Guiding since age five, expressed the emotional impact: «I've been in Guiding since the age of five, as a queer woman this is heartbreaking. We want to make sure we uphold our Guiding values as members. This is a community full of pride and love.»
Ann Burnett, a 56-year-old Rainbows leader who helped organize the protest with her 23-year-old non-binary daughter Lauren, challenged the organization's framing: «Girlguiding is a society not an organisation, that should include everyone, not just those assigned female at birth.»
Girlguiding's position
Girlguiding announced the policy change with what it called "a heavy heart." The organization stated: «Following April's Supreme Court decision relating to sex and gender, many organisations across the country have been facing complex decisions about what it means for girls and women and for the wider communities affected.»
The organization explained its legal reasoning: «Girlguiding's governing charity documents set out that the membership and people who benefit from our organisation are girls and women. The Supreme Court ruled that girls and women are defined in the Equality Act 2010 by their biological sex at birth.»
After detailed considerations, expert legal advice, and input from members and trustees, Girlguiding concluded: «It is with a heavy heart that we are announcing trans girls and young women will no longer be able to join Girlguiding. This is a decision we would have preferred not to make, and we know that this may be upsetting for members of our community.»
The organization emphasized: «We want to make clear this decision was not made due to any safeguarding concern.»
Wider concerns
Heather Collins, a mother-of-two at the protest, questioned the legal interpretation: «The Supreme Court decision is about gender recognition certificates, which under-18s can't even obtain. It has got nothing to do with the Supreme Court.» She also expressed hope that the Scouts movement, where her other child participates, would not follow suit.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
