Protesters at City and Islington College

STUDENTS and teachers waved placards and chanted “Trans rights are human rights” as they protested outside an Islington college.

The demonstration on Wednesday at the gates of City and Islington College (CANDI) in Angel was in response to last month’s Supreme Court ruling on the legal definition of a woman that protesters say signals a huge step backwards for trans rights.

National Education Union rep Sam Hughes said the ruling, which says the definition of a woman should be based on biological sex under equalities law, is “enabling people to be explicitly transphobic”.

She told the Tribune: “We’re going backwards, because it’s easier to blame an out-group and a minority than it is to accept that things needs changing from the top.

“The majority of women and trans women just want to be left alone, and it [the ruling] is an excuse to enable hate and to allow hate to be directed at marginalised groups. This is kind of enabling and embold­ening transphobia”.

Ms Hughes, who teaches biology at the college, warned of the effect it would have on students and teachers.

She said: “I’m absolutely terrified of what’s going to happen in terms of when I take kids on field trips.

Are they going to be comfortable? What’s going to happen in secondary schools where you’ve got changing facilities?” Alfie G, 17, a student at CANDI, said they felt disappointed that a Labour government was targeting minority groups and were scared that things would become more difficult for their trans friends.

They said: “I’m non-binary myself and I’ve watched this Labour government that has promised me a future slowly erase the rights of me, my friends, my trans siblings, and throw us to the side after using us for political leverage.”

Asked whether they felt scared, Alfie said: “I don’t fear violence towards myself, but it happens, I’ve had people shout stuff at me, friends have had people come up to them and it’s scary.”

They added: “The teachers here have been nothing but supportive and it’s been a very safe environment here but I fear for people that aren’t in a safe environment. I’ve got friends who come from households where it is not safe to be trans and I fear with the increasing validation of these transphobic and danger­ous rhetorics in the media, that is going to make their lives less safe.”

Another student, Alfie H, 16, told the Tribune: “I’m not trans but I’ve got many trans friends, and it’s very important to me that they are allowed to live the lives they want and deserve.

“It’s very important that people know that there are people who aren’t directly in that community that support them. Otherwise you can feel very isolated and alone.”

Meanwhile, Councillor Sheila Chapman, Islington’s equalities chief, said that “nothing in the Supreme Court ruling will change our unwavering commitment to a more equal future.”

She added: “Islington has always been a welcoming, open and inclusive place that champions equal rights, and it always will remain so. We know that transgender residents in Islington and around the country will feel concerned and worried about the implications of the ruling.

“Legal judgments don’t stop all of us displaying empathy and understanding for each other – our diversity is what makes our borough strong.”

Cllr Chapman said that the council would “consider the specific legal implications on the ruling and await the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s guidance in the summer”.