by Eleanor Harding, Daily Mail
Transgender girls will be forced to leave Girlguiding by the start of the autumn after the organisation was accused of prioritising their needs over safeguarding.
Bosses said today all trans girls – those born male but identifying as female – must stop attending Guides, Brownies and Rainbows groups from September 6.
The move follows an announcement in December which stated Girlguiding was no longer accepting trans girls and membership would in future be limited to ‘girls and young women’.
It came in response to the Supreme Court ruling in April last year that ‘woman’ in the Equality Act 2010 referred to a biological woman – meaning single-sex spaces should be preserved.
After the ruling, a mother threatened to sue Girlguiding unless they complied with it – sending them a pre-action legal letter.
This afternoon, she told the Daily Mail: ‘I’m very glad that Girlguiding have finally realised that their focus should be on girls and young women.
‘It is disappointing that I had to threaten legal action for them to realise that girls have the right to spaces without boys, however they identify, and sad that they are delaying further the removal of boys and men until September, but I am happy that they have, finally, come to their senses and recognised what the law requires of them.’
In a statement, Girlguiding said it had consulted lawyers, members, its council and board of trustees before making its final decision.