Women’s Institute announces ban on trans women after Supreme Court ruling
The NFWI said it will continue to offer programmes that provide support and a sense of community to trans women, even though they can no longer hold formal membership
By Callum Wells
The Women’s Institute will stop offering formal membership to transgender women from April 2026, it has announced.
The decision follows April’s Supreme Court ruling that trans women are not legally women under the Equality Act.
National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) chief executive Melissa Green said in a statement: “It is with the utmost regret and sadness that we must announce that from April 2026, we can no longer offer formal membership to transgender women.
“[This] does not change our firm belief that transgender women are women” – NFWI chief executive Melissa Green
“As an organisation that has proudly welcomed transgender women into our membership for more than 40 years, this is not something we would do unless we felt that we had no other choice.
“To be able to continue operating as the Women’s Institute, a legally recognised women’s organisation and charity, we must act in accordance with the Supreme Court’s judgment and restrict formal membership to biological women only. However, this change is only in respect to our membership policy and does not change our firm belief that transgender women are women.”
The NFWI said it will continue to offer programmes that provide support and a sense of community to trans women, even though they can no longer hold formal membership.
Earlier this year, five Supreme Court judges stated unanimously that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer to biological women and biological sex. Legal experts have warned that the ruling could have wide-ranging implications for trans women’s access to women-only spaces and services.
The move comes one day after Girlguiding announced it would also bar trans girls
Trans rights groups have criticised the ruling, saying it risks “excluding trans people wholesale from participating in UK society”.
The move comes one day after Girlguiding announced that it would also bar trans girls from membership.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has issued guidance in response to the Supreme Court ruling, which has been criticised as a “misogynist’s charter”. The guidance could allow organisations to restrict trans people’s access to single-sex spaces, such as toilets and changing rooms, based on appearance.
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