Girlguiding UK restricts membership to those born female

Girlguiding UK announced on December 2 a policy change restricting membership to individuals recorded as female at birth, effectively barring transgender girls and young women from joining as new members. The decision applies immediately across all sections of the organization, including Rainbows for ages four to five, Brownies for seven to 10, Guides for 10 to 14, and Rangers for 14 to 18, impacting its approximately 300,000 members nationwide.

The organization cited a recent Supreme Court ruling as the basis for the shift, which clarified that the terms "sex" and "woman" in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex. In a joint statement, Girlguiding's chairwoman of trustees Denise Wilson, chief executive Felicity Oswald, and chief guide Tracy Foster explained, "Girlguiding has reached the difficult decision that going forward, membership of Girlguiding will be restricted to girls and young women, as defined in the Equality Act 2010." They added that the choice was made after detailed considerations, including expert legal advice and input from senior and young members, and was approached with a "heavy heart."

Under the new rules, transgender boys remain eligible to join or...