Girlguiding will require non-biological women to leave by September 2026 under new rules following a court ruling
Transgender members in one of Britain’s largest organizations for women and girls, Girlguiding, have been told they must leave by September 2026 under new rules introduced after a Supreme Court ruling on biological sex.
Girlguiding, Britain’s equivalent of the Girl Scouts, said on Tuesday that current trans members will no longer be eligible to stay after September 6. The move follows a December announcement that Girlguiding would no longer admit biological boys who identify as girls.
The rule applies to both young members and female-only volunteer roles. Girlguiding said the September deadline was set “to give as much notice as possible” and to allow all current members to take part in summer activities.
“Requiring trans-identifying boys to leave is no doubt difficult for Girlguiding, but it is the right thing to do. This news will come as a relief to many girls and their parents, who greatly value single-sex provision,” Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at Sex Matters, told The Guardian.
In December, Girlguiding, which currently has around 300,000 members and about 80,000 volunteers, said it would no longer accept transgender members. Other organizations have taken similar steps as a result of the ruling. The Women’s Institute, which is more than 110 years old, followed suit, announcing that it would “restrict formal membership to biological women only.”
The move followed a Supreme Court ruling in April 2025 that said the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer only to biological sex, not gender identity. The ruling has significant implications for trans women’s access to female-only services and spaces.
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UK supreme court rules on definition of ‘woman’
The ruling stemmed from a challenge by For Women Scotland over a government policy that counted transgender women as female on public boards. The court found that “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer to biological sex, warning that including acquired gender would create legal inconsistencies. A subsequent poll found that 59% supported the decision, according to Electoral Calculus.
Last year, the Football Association also said transgender women would be barred from women’s football in England from June 1, 2025, while British Rowing ruled that only athletes assigned female at birth can compete in its women’s category.
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