What the Supreme Court ruling on trans exclusion means and how we are responding, a note from director Jess Turtle
This week we co-signed a letter from The Outside Project, our long term partners, which will go to MPs and Commissioners on Monday 28th April 2025.
Content from the letter is included in this statement but please go here to read it in full and add your signature.
Why this matters to MoH
MoH is a survivor-led organisation and we have a higher than usual number of trans and non binary people in our excellent staff team, volunteer crew and community.
Furthermore, our independent investigations and research demonstrate that the think tanks and lobbyists funding and influencing the exclusion of trans people are the same bodies, for example the Heritage Foundation, that are pushing for criminalisation of homelessness and attacking museums and heritage organisations that support diversity, equality and inclusion. We watch with horror what is happening in the US - with those same bodies behind it - and we are working hard to challenge the same forces at work in UK politics and culture.
As part of the letter, and following internal discussion since the ruling, we wish to reaffirm the following commitments:
We will continue to provide trans-inclusive services across our emergency shelter, daytime community provision and museum activities.
We will advocate for and with Trans+, non-binary, intersex and gender-diverse people across all our work and partnerships.
We will challenge rhetoric and policies that endanger or isolate Trans+ people, and continue to create and promote community led, trauma conscious approaches. We will educate without shaming, to heal societal divides but we will hold a firm line on transphobia.
The fact of the ruling and the disinformation version
As it stands today, after the Supreme Court ruling, any service choosing to exclude Trans+ people must demonstrate that it is doing so as a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
However, in the past week UK government messaging has been misleading and escalated significantly. Statements that trans women should not use women’s toilets are extremely alarming.
Press, politicians and policy makers including the EHRC appear to be intentionally misleading the public on the legality of Trans+ exclusion: it must be demonstrated that it is a proportionate means of securing a legitimate aim; that there is a real, lawful and justifiable objective to being Trans+ exclusive relating to a specific risk; that it is the least discriminatory option with no less harmful option available and crucially - that the benefit to others must outweigh the negative impact on the person affected.
The reality on the ground
There is no credible evidence that trans women pose a threat to cis women in single sex services but to the contrary a significant body of evidence showing that trans women face serious risk when placed in men's services. Trans women experience disproportionately high rates of violence, abuse, and sexual assault, particularly in institutional or gender-inappropriate settings. Trans migrant communities are subjected to exploitation and oppression, in the form of the erasure and disbelief they face in the asylum system, and the destitution they face due to barriers in accessing healthcare, housing and employment. https://migrantsrights.org.uk/2024/03/04/policing-of-transness-and-migration/
What’s behind it?
This manufactured outrage towards trans women in the media and in Government, is one of many strategic moral panics targeting marginalised groups in recent years. Something that connects many marginalised groups and disproportionately affects people experiencing homelessness. Museum of Homelessness has previously investigated and reported on the think tanks and lobby groups funding trans exclusion, immigration panic and criminalisation of homeless people. This latest development is part of the same push to scapegoat people who make up a minority of the population whilst the structural issues of wealth extraction, climate emergency and the breakdown of democracy intensify.
In light of the ruling, we are particularly concerned about the implications for trans women currently living in domestic abuse and homelessness services and those who will understandably fear approaching services at all.
In the letter, we join the Outside Project and 200 other signatories in asking for urgent clarity from local authorities:
What protections are currently in place for Trans+ individuals currently residing in single-sex services under your remit?
What provision will be made to ensure Trans+ people facing homelessness or fleeing domestic abuse are supported safely and appropriately, particularly in light of what appears to be a broader push towards trans women being excluded from single-sex spaces by the EHRC and Government?
In addition, we are asking local authorities to make the following commitments across all services:
Uphold and clearly communicate protections for Trans+ people.
Ensure all providers receive up-to-date training and guidance on inclusive practice under the Equality Act.
Refuse to fund services that exclude Trans+ people without lawful justification.
Work with Trans-led organisations to inform service design and delivery.
Publicly affirm your commitment to the safety and dignity of Trans+ service users.
Specifically within VAWG (Violence against women and girls) strategy and commissioning:
Ensure all VAWG services remain inclusive of Trans+ survivors.
Require providers to maintain and review trans-inclusive policies and risk assessments.
Deliver mandatory, trauma-informed training on supporting Trans+, non-binary, and intersex survivors.
Withhold funding from services that exclude Trans+ survivors without proportionate legal justification.
Collaborate with LGBTIQ+ and Trans-led organisations to develop inclusive, survivor-led approaches to domestic and sexual violence and homelessness.
Prioritise support for Black and Brown trans women and refugees by funding specialist services and partnerships that centre their needs, including culturally competent, trauma-informed, and immigration-aware provision.
As many of you know, our solidarity is our most potent weapon and we stand with our trans siblings now and always. Thanks to all our supporters who are alongside us and our community in this, we need you.
Jess Turtle, MoH cofounder and director