LGB Christians would like to respond to statements from some Christian organisations and individuals about the recent Supreme Court ruling over the interpretation of the 2010 Equalities Act which was made on 16th April 2025.
These statements interpret the Supreme Court ruling as a bad day for people who identify as transgender.
We recognise that these statements come from a place of love, compassion and integrity, which is why we wish to respond by sharing our own views and experience. Where we disagree, we do so with respect, mindful that this debate has become toxic in many places, and mindful too that we as Christians need to transcend the toxic without falling into naivety or absolutism. In such a complex issue, that is not easy, but it is our calling to try.
[the ruling was] simply an interpretation of the meaning of the word ‘woman’ in the context of the Equality Act 2010. The Court stated that trans-identified people are still protected against discrimination, as are other protected characteristics.
The Court explicitly stated that the ruling should not be seen as a victory for one side or a defeat for the other. It was simply an interpretation of the meaning of the word ‘woman’ in the context of the Equality Act 2010. The Court stated that trans-identified people are still protected against discrimination, as are other protected characteristics.
Some who are critical of the ruling make no mention of how gender ideology and trans activism have impacted negatively on the lives of women, particularly lesbians, and to a lesser extent gay men. The term ‘erasure’ is now being used to describe how being lesbian and gay, i.e. attracted to the same biological sex, has been obscured and invaded by gender identity. Thus women, especially lesbian women, who wished to insist on their own spaces, were vilified for doing so, and called transphobic. Some lost their jobs, were cancelled, their sporting ambitions thwarted, their reputations trashed, their lives threatened, because they dared to stand up for their rights – dared to state what the Supreme Court has now affirmed is true. Not for the first time in history, the women who raised concerns about their rights were shouted down or patronised. Trans activism has been largely deaf to the anger and hurt felt by women. We hope you have included them in your prayers and expressions of concern.
Meanwhile in schools, some children and teenagers who feel confused about sex and gender – something many of us can remember – are being told that they were ‘born in the wrong body’ and that their unhappiness can be cured with expensive, damaging treatment for transitioning. Catastrophically, this has led some young people to believe that the reality of biological sex can be over-ridden by gender identity, and that everyone in society must affirm their feelings. This ideology is inherently homophobic: it erases the reality of sexual development, including being gay or lesbian, and replaces it with promises of happiness through surgery or hormone treatment. The often overlooked voices of the many detransitioners need to be heard and taken very seriously. The Cass Review showed us what damage has been done to those children and teenagers. We hope you have included them in your prayers and expressions of concern.
People who identify as trans or non-binary have been so poorly served by gender ideology and trans activism.
In churches which style themselves as open, inclusive or progressive, the eagerness to embrace gender ideology, to say that ‘all are welcome here’, has always been well-intentioned. But it sits awkwardly with the fact that some churches, including our national church in England, will not marry or bless same-sex couples. There is dishonesty in this: while wearing the badge of inclusivity and flying the progress flag, a church can still crush the vocations of some lesbian and gay Christians who wish to serve the church faithfully. We hope you have included them in your prayers and expressions of concern.
People who identify as trans or non-binary have been so poorly served by gender ideology and trans activism. We’re thinking of the misogyny, homophobia, aggression and the ‘no-debate’ policy and the erasure of lesbian and gay sexual orientation. All that sound and fury has turned a complex debate into a contest for victimhood. It has exposed people to backlash, and set the cause of toleration back by years. Campaigning by diktat has worked very badly for them. Campaigning by persuasion takes longer and might feel harder, but it yields more equitable and more sustainable results.
is it prophetic to speak as though we knew the law better than the Supreme Court, or as though we are more competent paediatricians than Hilary Cass?
Christians need to recognise that the courts, and other public bodies, are trying to balance the rights of different groups – and where those rights compete, or clash, to point a way through. We are called to be prophetic. But is it prophetic to speak as though we knew the law better than the Supreme Court, or as though we are more competent paediatricians than Hilary Cass? Is it prophetic to give in to those who shout loudest? Is it prophetic to see inclusion as a game of heroes and villains? Is it prophetic to exclude or dismiss those who see an issue differently, when the issues are complex?
LGB Christians have chosen to focus on the rights and contributions of LGB people in the churches, standing against homophobia and standing up for sex-based rights. That’s not because we see trans-identified people as less important. We look to Christ as one who stood against injustice and hypocrisy in all its many forms. We ask today’s church to regard all suffering, all oppression, rather than rushing to support the group that shouts louder than others. We look forward to a day when all God’s people can live free from fear.