This morning we have sent the following letter to Members of Parliament, the Ministers for Women and Equalities and Health and Social Care, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Women and Equalities Select Committee, and Joint Committee on Human Rights:
We are writing to you to express our disappointment and concerns regarding “An interim update on the practical implications of the Supreme Court judgment” published on 25th April 2025 by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) following the Supreme Court judgment in For Women Scotland.
This guidance is concerning because it threatens trans people’s access to services and spaces, thereby undermining trans people’s right to dignity and autonomy. We are deeply concerned about the lack of proper consideration of trans people’s rights and voices in the EHRC interim update, given it was issued just nine days after the Supreme Court judgment and appears to espouse set views prior to the conclusion of the consultation (see the Good Law Project challenge of the interim update). Not only did the EHRC not consult with the trans or broader LGBT+ community before releasing this guidance; the Supreme Court did not allow any evidence to be heard from the trans community during the proceedings in For Women Scotland despite several requests from prominent trans rights organisations and trans individuals. This shows that the Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland, and the subsequent interim guidance by the EHRC are not based on consideration of factual evidence or the real experiences of trans individuals, but on unfounded claims fuelled by bigotry. This should be a concern not only to trans people in the UK, but to every citizen who believes in democracy.
The negative impact of the ruling and guidance are reflected in the latest ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map. This map ranks the legal and policy landscape for LGBTQ+ people across Europe, in which the UK – previously a leader – has dropped to an all-time low position of 22 out of 49. We write to you therefore as a registered LGBT+ charity, but also as individuals, both trans people and trans allies, to express our concern for how this guidance will have a devastating impact in our community if put in place, and to ask you to act on the interests of your constituents and the democratic values in which this country takes pride.
The Pink Singers are the UK and Europe’s oldest mixed LGBTQ+ choir, founded in 1983. We were created to bring visibility to queer lives and represent the basic truth that “we are everywhere”, which we do by singing to the public across the UK and abroad. As well as performing music, our wider objectives include promoting equality and diversity by raising awareness, fostering understanding between people from diverse backgrounds, and celebrating the diversity of LGBT+ lives. For our members we are first and foremost a community, and we provide a safe space for people of a wide range of queer identities with a shared love of music-making to meet together every week in a way that is mutually supportive and affirming.
While in 1983 we were originally called a “Lesbian and Gay” choir, identities outside of this nominal binary were always a part of our community. Just as the “Gay community” in the 1970s did not only include cisgender homosexuals, but rather a wide range of queer identities that are better-described today, so our designation has evolved over the decades to better represent the existing reality of our community. Trans women took part in the vanguard of queer activism as part of the UK Gay Liberation Front in the early 1970s alongside choir members that still sing with us today. Some of our first members in 1983 were openly bisexual and polyamorous and questioned the constraints of gender roles, performing in drag. We worked with and performed alongside trans artists in the 1980s, and we have had openly trans and non-binary members singing in the choir since the 1990s. We also have members who are asexual, disabled, and of a wide range of ages, abilities and ethnicities. In 2009, we formally recognised the value of this diversity and intersectionality of our identities in our constitution, so that today we are a proudly LGBT+ organisation, and inclusion and access is at the core of our charity and the way we operate for our members’ benefit. Our trans and non-binary members bring value, creativity and originality, and are loved and integral to our diverse community, providing direction and taking on leadership roles.
Within the UK LGBTQ+ choral community we are leaders in our sector and proudly represent queer identities in music and British society. In recent years we have been nominated for an award by the Royal Philharmonic Society, one of our members has received an MBE for their services in founding the UK & Ireland LGBTQ+ choral network and leading the Pink Singers in originating Hand in Hand – the UK’s LGBTQ+ choral festival – and in 2023, we performed at the Coronation Concert and celebrated our 40th anniversary with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Our many achievements would not be possible without the expertise and contributions of our members, and the wider support we receive through engagement with society and operating in the public sphere. We operate in a way that benefits society but also respects our members, a community of people of a range of sexualities and genders that celebrate each other’s differences and lived identities, and who coexist happily sharing space together in private and in public.
It is of great concern to us therefore that this interim update should seek to ‘police’ how we use facilities and divide us into categories that will put our members at risk of harm. We perform regularly in public venues around the UK, and have a duty to ensure that our members’ needs are respected when engaging with society, and in the spaces that host us. This update puts the safety of our members at risk, creating a hostile environment in public venues and facilities, and culturally ostracising trans people in UK society. The effects of this guidance will drive a wedge between the trans community and the wider public, fostering hate and division, when we should be promoting unity and safety.
We know from experience the effects of bad policy on our community. This interim update is eerily reminiscent of Section 28, the clause in the Local Government Act 1988 that banned the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality by local authorities. We have not forgotten the impact of this notorious clause: we advocated for its abolition throughout the 1990s, witnessing the harm it caused to a generation of queer people until its repeal in 2003. Trans people along with many others in our own community were directly affected by the culture of silence and oppression during this era, and in some cases assaulted by members of the public. We learned about many different ways the clause affected us in more detail recently through interviews with our members featured in our podcast series Sing It Pink. Since the recent ruling and update were published, we are once again witnessing the negative effects in real time. Our members are concerned and frightened for the future. Two of our members have already been verbally assaulted by unknown members of the public in the last few weeks in relation to trans rights and identities. That our community is yet again on the receiving end of a spike in hate crimes as a consequence of the actions of institutions who are supposed to protect the rights of minorities in 2025 seems unbelievable; causing further harm to yet another generation of trans people would be a travesty.
We urge you to step up and use your platform to represent the realities of the UK’s diverse and mutually supportive LGBTQ+ community, which in our experience bears no resemblance to the hatred and division worn by the right-wing advocates whose views have been adopted in creating this interim update, without consulting anyone in the trans community or any long-established LGBTQ+ organisations. We call for the interim update to be rescinded and for the EHRC to fulfil its mission as an independent equality and human rights regulator pursuant to section 3 of the Equality Act 2006, by protecting trans people’s dignity and rights and undertaking a full and fair consultation with the UK trans community ahead of any legislative change. If you would like to see what a real LGBTQ+ community looks like in 2025, we invite you to visit us and speak with us, or come to one of our concerts.
May we thank you for taking the time to read this letter and we look forward to hearing from you.
Rebecca Smithson & Tom Phillips, Chair & Chair of Trustees
on behalf of
The Pink Singers
London’s LGBT+ Community Choir
UK Registered Charity, No.1190317
