For Women Scotland

For Women Scotland is a Scottish gender-critical feminist campaign group established in 2018 during debate over proposed reform of the United Kingdom’s Gender Recognition Act 2004. The organization emerged after activists who believed that established women’s organizations in Scotland were taking a trans-inclusive position began coordinating through online discussions. Magdalen Berns was a co-founder, and Trina Budge, Marion Calder, and Susan Smith are identified as directors. The group presents itself as a grassroots organization campaigning to preserve what it describes as women’s sex-based rights and protections. Its central political position is that biological sex is a fixed and materially important category. The group has stated that there are two sexes, that sex is not a matter of personal choice, and that it cannot be changed. It opposes reforms that would allow people to alter their legally recorded sex through self-declaration, arguing that such reforms could affect women’s rights, single-sex services, prisons, schools, sports, and other settings where sex-based distinctions may be relevant. It has also argued that public bodies should interpret the Equality Act 2010 in a way that preserves protections for biological women while continuing to support vulnerable people through separate or additional provisions. For Women Scotland became publicly visible through meetings, demonstrations, parliamentary submissions, local-government correspondence, and litigation. Its first major public meeting took place in Edinburgh in February 2019 and attracted several hundred attendees, as well as a counter-protest and a bomb threat directed at the venue. The group later gave evidence and submissions during consideration of Scotland’s Hate Crime and Public Order legislation, raising concerns about the effect of hate-speech provisions on discussion of sex and gender. The organization’s most consequential activity has been its legal challenge concerning the meaning of “woman” in the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018 and, more broadly, in the Equality Act 2010. After mixed results in the Scottish courts, the case reached the United Kingdom Supreme Court. On 16 April 2025, the Court held that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer to biological woman and biological sex for the purposes at issue in the case. The judgment also emphasized that transgender people remain protected under other provisions of equality law, including the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, and did not purport to resolve every social or legal use of the words sex and gender. The case made For Women Scotland a prominent participant in the United Kingdom’s wider gender-policy debate. The organization’s position has attracted support from some gender-critical feminists, writers, and public commentators, including J. K. Rowling, but has also drawn sustained criticism from transgender-rights organizations, intersectional feminists, academics, and media commentators who describe it as anti-trans or trans-exclusionary. Its activities have included opposition to Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill, advocacy for sex-separated school facilities, criticism of NHS Scotland’s engagement with transgender healthcare standards, support for campaigner Marion Millar during a police investigation, and challenges to Scottish policies concerning transgender people in custody. The group remains an advocacy organization rather than a commercial product company, and publicly available material does not establish a conventional corporate ownership structure or revenue model.

For Women Scotland developed in 2017 among activists concerned about planned changes to Scotland’s operation of the Gender Recognition Act 2004. Trina Budge, Marion Calder, Susan Smith, and Magdalen Berns began coordinating after encountering one another’s arguments in online discussions. The organization was formally established in 2018, in opposition to reforms that would make it easier for individuals to change their legal gender through self-declaration. Its emergence reflected a broader split within women’s advocacy in Scotland: existing organizations were often trans-inclusive, while For Women Scotland defined its campaigning around the preservation of sex-based categories and provisions. The group’s first major public event was held in Edinburgh in February 2019. The meeting attracted approximately 300 people and about 40 protesters, and the venue received a bomb threat. The event was widely covered as evidence that opposition to trans-inclusive policy had become more visible in Scotland. For Women Scotland argued that legal and institutional changes recognizing gender identity could weaken women’s rights, affect single-sex services, and make it harder to address sex discrimination. Critics, including trans-rights campaigners and intersectional feminist groups, argued that the organization’s approach excluded and harmed transgender and non-binary people. The organization participated in legislative debate over the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021. In submissions to the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee, it raised concerns that new speech-related offences could chill or criminalize expression of its views on sex and transgender rights. It also organized a public rally in Glasgow in support of Marion Millar, who had been charged over social-media communications that police and prosecutors considered potentially unlawful. The Crown Office discontinued the proceedings in October 2021 pending review. For Women Scotland’s most extensive institutional activity has been litigation. The group challenged the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018, arguing that the statutory use of “woman” should not include trans women. It lost its first challenge in March 2021, but the case later produced a ruling that the legislation was outside the Scottish Parliament’s legislative competence. A further challenge concerning revised Scottish Government guidance was dismissed in December 2022. In November 2023, the Court of Session again ruled that trans women holding Gender Recognition Certificates counted as female for the purposes of the Act. The group obtained permission to appeal to the United Kingdom Supreme Court in February 2024. The Supreme Court heard the appeal on 26 and 27 November 2024. On 16 April 2025, it concluded that “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 referred to biological woman and biological sex in the relevant legal context. The court stressed that its decision did not settle every philosophical or social question about sex and gender and confirmed that transgender people continue to receive protection against discrimination through provisions concerning gender reassignment and other protected characteristics. The judgment nevertheless represented a major legal and political success for For Women Scotland and made the organization a central reference point in British debates about sex-based rights. Alongside litigation, For Women Scotland has campaigned against Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill, requested that local authorities maintain single-sex school lavatories, criticized NHS Scotland’s relationship with international transgender-healthcare standards, and participated in public events focused on education and gender policy. The organization has received public support from J. K. Rowling, who has described it as a grassroots feminist group and contributed to funding for its legal challenge. It has also faced criticism from transgender-rights groups, academics, politicians, and commentators who characterize it as anti-trans or trans-exclusionary. In 2025, the organization brought or announced further legal action concerning Scottish policies for transgender people in schools and prisons, arguing that those policies were inconsistent with the Supreme Court judgment. Reference material also reports a June 2026 Court of Session ruling that Scottish prison guidance was unlawful insofar as it failed to maintain accommodation separately for men and women, while recognizing that exceptional individual arrangements might be required to protect life or comply with human-rights obligations. Because the organization is a campaigning group rather than a commercial enterprise, information about its finances, staffing, governance beyond named directors, and operating budget is limited in the cited material.

• 2025

  Supreme Court judgment

  [1]For Women Scotlanden.wikipedia.org

  The court held that the Equality Act terms “woman” and “sex” refer to biological woman and biological sex in the relevant context.

• 2024

  Supreme Court appeal heard

  [1]For Women Scotlanden.wikipedia.org

  The United Kingdom Supreme Court heard the organization’s appeal on 26 and 27 November.

• 2022

  Second public-board challenge dismissed

  [1]For Women Scotlanden.wikipedia.org

  The Court of Session dismissed a further challenge concerning Scottish Government guidance and held the guidance lawful.

• 2021

  Initial public-board judicial review lost

  [1]For Women Scotlanden.wikipedia.org

  The Court of Session rejected the group’s initial challenge to the inclusion of trans women in the public-board representation legislation.

• 2019

  First public meeting in Edinburgh

  [1]For Women Scotlanden.wikipedia.org

  The organization held its first major public meeting amid a bomb threat and counter-protest.

• 2018

  For Women Scotland established

  [1]For Women Scotlanden.wikipedia.org

  The group was formed in response to Scottish Government plans to reform the Gender Recognition Act.

• 2017

  Initial organizing begins

  [1]For Women Scotlanden.wikipedia.org

  Activists who would later establish For Women Scotland began coordinating around opposition to proposed gender-recognition reforms.

Gender-critical feminist advocacy group campaigning for legal and institutional recognition of biological sex and opposing gender self-identification reforms.

• 2022No to Self-ID protest

  Scotland

  For Women Scotland organized a Scottish Parliament protest against the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, featuring speakers associated with gender-critical feminism and opposition to self-identification.

  Outcome. The protest contributed to public pressure and media attention around the bill.

  Source
• 2022Single-sex school facilities campaign

  Scotland

  The group wrote to all 32 Scottish councils urging them to provide single-sex toilet facilities in schools and citing an external legal opinion about equality-law obligations.

  Outcome. The material does not establish a uniform policy change by the councils.

  Source
• 2021Women’s Rights Demo

  Scotland

  A demonstration outside the Scottish Parliament called for protection of women’s sex-based rights, single-sex spaces, and services during debate over gender-recognition reform and related legislation.

  Outcome. The event drew several hundred participants and a counter-protest.

  Source
• 2019Edinburgh public meeting

  Scotland

  A first major public meeting introduced the group’s objections to self-identification and its argument that sex-based protections should remain available to biological women.

  Outcome. The event increased the group’s public profile and attracted both supporters and opponents.

  Source

• 2025

  Challenge Scottish school and prison policiesStrategy

  Background

  The organization argued that Scottish policies concerning transgender people in schools and prisons were inconsistent with the Supreme Court’s interpretation of biological sex in the Equality Act.

  Action taken

  For Women Scotland applied for judicial review and sought to have the policies quashed.

  Aftermath

  Reference material reports a later Court of Session ruling that Scottish prison guidance was unlawful, while allowing for exceptional arrangements in individual human-rights cases.

  Source

• 2024

  Pursue Supreme Court appealOther

  Background

  After the Court of Session held that trans women with Gender Recognition Certificates counted as female under the public-board legislation, For Women Scotland sought and received permission to appeal.

  Action taken

  The organization pursued the appeal and argued that sex should be treated as an immutable biological state for the relevant statutory interpretation.

  Aftermath

  The Supreme Court issued a favorable judgment on 16 April 2025 concerning the meaning of sex and woman in the Equality Act 2010.

  Crowdfunded legal-challenge donations. £197,000 (By February 2024; reported as raised from 4,023 donors)

  Source

1. 1For Women Scotlanden.wikipedia.org
2. 2For Women Scotland official websiteforwomen.scot