When the UK Supreme Court ruled yesterday that transgender women are not legally women under the Equality Act, it sent shockwaves through our community. The judgment, delivered unanimously by five justices, declared that the terms “woman” and “sex” refer solely to biological definitions. In doing so, the court not only reinforced the exclusion of trans women from single-sex spaces but also signaled open season on trans rights under the law.
It was a calculated win for anti-trans campaigners like For Women Scotland (FWS) and other gender-critical groups. And they didn’t even try to hide their celebration. “Absolutely jubilant,” they said—because this wasn’t just about public boards or legal semantics. It was about power. It was about erasure.
And just hours after the ruling, they moved the goalposts again. Prominent anti-trans voices began calling for the elimination of the Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) altogether, an intentional escalation designed to strip trans people of even the smallest scraps of dignity we’ve fought tooth and nail to secure.
This is a pattern. Every time they gain an inch, they reach for the mile. And yet, I watched the usual suspects on TV, the so-called “reasonable” trans voices, calmly suggest we should accept this as a necessary compromise. That maybe we’ve pushed too far. That we should protect “what really matters,” like access to hormones and surgeries, and let the rest go.
Let me be crystal clear: That is a trap.
They Want Us to Disappear
This is not a debate about balancing rights. This is not a reasonable disagreement over policy. This is a strategic, coordinated effort to roll back every inch of progress the transgender community has made, until we’re invisible again.
We are not dealing with people who want compromise. We are dealing with people who want us gone.
And yet, every time the pressure ramps up, every time the courts deliver another blow, or another right-wing government proposes yet another restriction, there’s a familiar chorus that rises from within our ranks:
“Let’s just be quiet for a bit.”
“Maybe if we step back, the backlash will die down.”
“Don’t make waves. It’ll just make things worse.”
“Let them have this one—it’s not that important.”
“We have to protect what we still have.”
I say this with love and with the weight of lived experience: Giving up has never protected us. Silence has never saved us. Appeasement has only ever delayed the next attack.
We’ve Tried Playing Nice. It Didn’t Work.
If history has taught us anything, it’s that we don’t earn our rights by asking politely or shrinking ourselves to make others comfortable. We gain ground by demanding our humanity be seen. And we keep that ground by refusing to back down when they try to take it away.
This ruling wasn’t a conclusion; it was an invitation. An invitation for anti-trans activists, politicians, and media pundits to start carving up the community, one right at a time. First, they strip away legal recognition. Then access to health care. Then public accommodations. Then the right to exist safely at all.
If we allow ourselves to fracture, if we let fear dictate strategy, then we’re handing them the victory they haven’t earned.
We cannot afford to let the loudest trans voices on conservative news shows speak for us. We cannot allow self-appointed spokespeople to stand on national platforms and suggest we abandon our most vulnerable community members to save the rest.
Because when you cut off the most marginalized, you are cutting out the spine of this movement.
The Reality of Solidarity
The other side loves when we turn on each other. When trans femme people ignore the struggles of trans mascs. When binary trans folks distance themselves from nonbinary siblings. When white trans people overlook the compounding violence faced by Black and brown trans women. When older generations dismiss younger voices.
They love it because it weakens us. Because it makes their job easier. So here’s the truth that too many are afraid to say out loud:
There is no winning strategy that involves throwing any of us under the bus.
There is no healthcare left to protect if we don’t defend our legal status to exist.
There is no “good trans person” safe enough to be spared.
We rise together or not at all.
This Fight is Personal And We’re Not Leaving
As the founder of TransVitae.com, I didn’t start this platform because I wanted to play nice. I started it because I was tired of seeing the same old voices dominate the conversation. Tired of watching the most vulnerable in our community be dismissed as “too loud,” “too angry,” or “bad for optics.”
I didn’t come up in a world that gave me a script for how to be a trans woman. I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, before hashtags and hot takes. Before gender clinics were a Google search away. I learned how to survive in silence.
But we don’t have to live in silence anymore. And I’ll be damned if we let the courts, the media, or even conservative members of our own community send us back into the closet.
I’m not stepping aside so someone more palatable can take my place. I’m not shutting up to protect someone else’s media image. And I’m sure as hell not letting anyone hand over my rights like a consolation prize.
If you’re with me, if you’ve felt the sting of this ruling in your chest, if you’ve watched your rights be debated like bargaining chips, if you’re sick of being told to be quiet and grateful, you’re not alone.
And you are exactly who we need to keep showing up.
What You Can Do Now
This is not the time to retreat. This is the time to dig in. So here’s how we push back:
- Speak up, even when it’s uncomfortable: Write. Call. Post. Testify. Talk to your neighbors, your coworkers, your lawmakers. Don’t wait for permission.
- Support trans-led organizations: Especially those led by BIPOC and disabled trans folks, who are often on the frontlines and least resourced.
- Hold our so-called allies accountable: If someone claims to support us but stays silent during moments like this, press them on it.
- Refuse to cede language: Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Nonbinary people are real. Don’t let them rewrite the narrative.
- Stay visible: The goal of these rulings is to make us disappear. Even if it’s scary, even if it’s exhausting, your visibility matters.
- Take care of each other: This fight is long, and no one gets through it alone. Check in on your friends. Share resources. Build community.
The Bottom Line
Trans people are some of the most resilient people on this planet. We’ve survived centuries of silence, criminalization, pathologization, and violence. And we’re still here.
Every day that you wake up and choose to be yourself in a world that tells you not to, that’s resistance. That’s power.
So no, we won’t go back. We won’t step aside. We won’t trade one set of rights for another. We will fight for all of us, together.
And we won’t stop until every trans person is seen, respected, and protected—not as a compromise, but as a promise.
Because we’re not asking for special treatment. We’re demanding our humanity be honored. And we will never apologize for that.
If you are reading this and feeling scared, angry, exhausted, or just heartbroken, know this: You are not alone. You are not broken. You are not losing. You are rising. And we’re rising with you.
If this piece moved you, share it with your trans siblings, friends, and allies. Let’s make sure every single one of us knows: we are not backing down. Not now. Not ever.
