Small museums respond to UK Supreme Court gender ruling (2025)

Several small museums have published statements expressing support and solidarity with their trans staff, volunteers, community partners, visitors and wider audience following last week’s UK Supreme Court gender ruling.

Following a long-running legal case brought by the campaign group For Women Scotland, five Supreme Court judges ruled that the 2010 Equality Act’s definition of a “woman” is limited to people born biologically female and therefore does not include transgender women who hold a gender recognition certificate.

The ruling will affect UK organiations that manage single-sex spaces and services.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has welcomed the ruling, which it said it would have “significant implications for the interpretation of Britain’s equality laws”.

The commission’s chair, Kishwer Falkner, said it would develop a revised code of practice on single-sex spaces and services by the summer and would continue to protect all protected characteristics, promote equality and tackle discrimination.

Sector response

The Vagina Museum published a statement shortly after the ruling was announced expressing its “unequivocal support of and solidarity” with the trans community.

“The ruling comes amidst an increasingly frightening climate for trans people in the UK and globally,” the museum said. “We will continue to abide by our values, and ensure that the Vagina Museum remains a space in which trans people are included, welcomed and celebrated.”

The Crab Museum posted a statement on Instagram disputing the court’s ruling.

“Today the Supreme Court voted to exclude a group of persecuted people from equality legislation,” it said. “Their ruling centred on the word ‘biology’, with the judge stating that biological sex is ‘assumed to be self-explanatory and to require no further explanation’. Speaking in a professional capacity as museum of biology: this is not how biology works.

“There are no binaries in nature, and biology, like all sciences, should never be taken for granted or assumed to be "self-explanatory". Even worse, it should never be used to justify weaponised culture war issues. This ruling is an abuse of science.

“We have spoken many times before about this – there is immense variation between individuals within a biological sex. Biological sex itself (not just gender) is a spectrum – and it really shouldn't be a big deal. If you don't like trans people then just be honest about your prejudices. But don't use biology to support your views in the same way that racists do.”

There were protests across the UK over the weekend following the court ruling. The Museum of Transology posted on Instagram that it had collected a protest sign from one march in Parliament Square in London.

The museum’s exhibition Transcestry: 10 years of the Museum of Transology is on display at Lethaby Gallery, Central Saint Martins, in London until 11 May.

Update (23/04/2025)

Dorset Museum & Art Gallery has published a statement in response to the Supreme Court ruling on its Instagram page.

It said: "At Dorset Museum & Art Gallery, we welcome everyone to discover and enjoy the richness of Dorset’s natural, historical and cultural heritage.

"We are committed to making Dorset Museum & Art Gallery a fair and inclusive place to visit, work and volunteer and where our collections, opportunities, events and spaces are open to all.

"In light of the recent legal rulings around the definitions of sex and gender by the Supreme Court, we want to reassure our trans and non-binary visitors that they are welcome here. Most of our facilities are gender neutral and we encourage all visitors to continue to use the facilities that align with their gender identity.

"We firmly believe that diversity enriches our society and culture - past, present and future. It is vital that every voice is heard and every story is told as part of our shared history."