Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656

Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

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February – March 2026 : Progress READ ONLINE

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Protect Trans+ lives!

May 01 2025

The government and press are misrepresenting the law and scapegoating vulnerable communities. We must fight back, write members of The Outside Project

For over eight years, The Outside Project has been providing crisis housing services for LGBTIQA+ people in London who are homeless and/or fleeing domestic abuse – people who are predominantly Trans+ (people who are transgender, non-binary, agender, genderfluid or elsewhere on the gender spectrum). This winter, we ran the UK’s first Trans+ winter night shelter in Hackney due to huge demand. The devastating abuse our community faces – fueled by LGBTIQA+ phobia and hatred from press and politicians – is only compounded by systemic failures to protect us. In recent years, this failure has transformed into serious harm: over the past five years, anti-Trans hate crimes have increased by 186%.

We are deeply concerned by April’s Supreme Court ruling on the Equality Act and subsequent statements made by the Equalities Minister and the Prime Minister. The ruling unconscionably permits the exclusion of Trans people from single-sex services under certain conditions. It does not require exclusion, however. Any service choosing to exclude Trans+ people must demonstrate that it is doing so as a “proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim”. That means there must be a real, lawful and justifiable objective for a service to be Trans+ exclusive relating to a specific risk; that it is the least discriminatory and harmful option, and – crucially – that the benefit to others must outweigh the negative impact on the person excluded.

Press coverage and politicians’ statements are intentionally misleading the public on this detail, and on the legality of Trans+ exclusion overall. Statements that trans women should not use women’s toilets, for example, are extremely alarming and absolutely not supported by law. While we are reassured by Refuge’s public statement committing to continue supporting Trans+ people in their services, and by our continued protections under the Equality Act, widespread explicit support for Trans+ rights is urgently needed.

Scapegoats

There has been no mention of trans men, non-binary, or intersex people in statements following the ruling – and no guidance at all for services that support women. The manufactured outrage towards trans women specifically is just one of many ongoing strategic moral panics targeting marginalised groups, including Muslims, migrants and benefit claimants. All have been demonised in order to distract us from, or blame them for, harms caused by austerity and an economic system that oppresses us all.

In reality, there is no credible evidence that trans women pose a threat to cisgender women (people whose gender matches the gender they were assigned at birth) in single-sex services. To the contrary, records and data show that trans women experience disproportionately high rates of violence, abuse and sexual assault, particularly in institutional or gender-inappropriate settings. It shows that Trans+ migrants are subjected to exploitation and oppression in the form of the erasure and disbelief in the asylum system and barriers in accessing healthcare, housing and employment. The UN, Stonewall, Galop and the TransActual UK Trans Report further document harm, retraumatisation and disengagement from services when Trans+ people are misgendered or excluded. Frontline services consistently report that Trans+ inclusion does not compromise safety – but that exclusion does.

We are deeply concerned about the implications for trans women living in domestic abuse and homelessness services and those who will understandably fear approaching services at all. At The Outside Project, we categorically oppose referring trans women to men’s housing services, knowing that would endanger some of the most marginalised women in our community, including trans women seeking asylum, and damage trust built through our work. As a by-and-for, survivor-led organisation, we reaffirm our commitments to: provide trans-inclusive services and advocate for and with Trans+, non-binary, intersex and gender-diverse people across all our work and partnerships; challenge rhetoric and policies that endanger or isolate Trans+ people; and promote community-led, trauma-informed approaches.

We are urgently seeking clarity from local authorities on the protections they have in place for Trans+ individuals residing in single-sex services, and the provision they will make to ensure Trans+ people facing homelessness or fleeing domestic abuse are supported safely and appropriately. We are also publicly calling on local authorities to publicly affirm the safety and dignity of Trans+ service users and uphold protections for Trans+ people across their services, including by collaborating with LGBTIQA+ and Trans-led organisations and prioritising support for black, brown and migrant trans women.

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February – March 2026 : Progress

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