Sure, but are these so-called ‘academics’ biologists? If no, they need to sit down and shaddap.
Not In Our Name: Feminist Academics and Educators Speak Out Against Transphobia
We are non-trans feminist academics and educators. We write in support of trans rights, trans wellbeing and trans inclusion. The harmful Supreme Court ruling states that women and men are defined by their ‘biology’, by their ‘sex at birth’. The extreme interpretation of this ruling by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) suggests that trans women and trans men should be restricted in their access to workplaces, schools, sports and services, excluding trans people from using the facilities of their gender.
Anti-trans campaigners say they want to exclude trans women from women’s spaces in order to protect cis women. We do not need protection from trans people. We need action against sexual harassment, rape, domestic violence and everyday sexism. We need policies that guarantee women get equal pay for their work, affordable childcare and the eradication of childbirth-related deaths. And we need the state to stop the violence that trans people face at the hands of cis men and cis women.
We need to stand together in defence of everyone’s bodily autonomy, gender expression, reproductive rights, and individual freedoms. We cannot have a state or society that checks people’s genitals when they go to the toilet, go to work or school, play sports, access healthcare or use facilities.
We unequivocally reject the idea that women can be defined by their biology, a claim which is neither feminist nor scientific. For centuries, women have fought for the right to do, wear and be what they want to be. It is essentialist and patriarchal to assert that body, genes, chromosomes and reproductive capacity make women (or men).
Feminism teaches us that our body does not determine our destiny, and nor should legislation, policies, or society’s expectations.
Trans people are being used as scapegoats and a distraction from the problems that we actually face in society. This is an attack on trans people and will further inflame transphobia. When the Supreme Court ‘clarifies’ (cf. Supreme Court, 2025, pg. 76) what a woman ‘is’ they enforce the idea that all women need to conform to a singular, racialised and ableist model of femininity.
We want our feminism to be vibrant and intersectional. Trans and non-binary people are part of us. We support all people to be free and safe to express themselves without fear of prejudice or harm.
As educators and academics, we have a duty to care. We must strive to make education a safer, more inclusive and equitable space for everyone. We stand with our trans and non-binary colleagues and students. We fight for everyone’s right to be educators and educated, without prejudice or harm.
We are not victims. We welcome trans people. We demand that trans people are able to live their lives safely and with dignity. We believe that trans women are women and trans men are men. The Supreme Court ruling is not a victory for feminism; it is a victory for patriarchy. And when the patriarchy wins, everybody loses.
This ruling does not speak for us. Not in our name.
Signed, 29 April 2025
Dr Dyi Dieuwertje Huijg, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in Sociology, Roehampton University
Professor Caroline Dodds Pennock, University of Sheffield
Angharad Morgan, Teacher of Social Science, PhD candidate in Education and Social Justice, Lancaster University
Sara Bragg, Associate Professor, IOE UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society
Professor Surya Monro
Professor Katherine Schofield, London
Alison Phipps, Professor of Sociology, Newcastle University
Dr Larissa Povey, Senior Lecturer, Sheffield Hallam University
Dr Harriet Axbey, Researcher, Faculty of Medicine, Health, and Life Science, Swansea University, Wales
Dr Laura Seymour, Senior Lecturer in English and Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow, University of Swansea