A march took place this afternoon in central Oxford in support of transgender rights, after a new Code of Practice was introduced by the UK’s Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
The march, organised by Oxford for Trans Rights, began in Bonn Square around 3pm with a series of speeches, before heading around the city centre at 4pm and ending outside Oxford Magistrates Court at 5pm for closing addresses. Over 200 people took part, with representatives from the Oxford Green Party, the Oxford Liberal Democrats and the Socialist Worker Party present, and members of the Unison and Unite trade unions also in attendance.
The march came after the EHRC updated its guidance on the 21st May in light of last year’s Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland vs The Scottish Ministers, which ruled that the terms “sex”, “woman” and “man” in the Equalities Act referred to “biological sex”. The new draft guidance now states that transgender men, including those with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), are legally women, and trans women with a GRC are legally men.
Chants at the demonstration and on the march included “Trans rights, women’s rights, one struggle, one fight”; “pack it up, pack it in, throw the guidance in the bin”; and “no LGB without the T”. They also called out former Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Labour MP for Oxford East, Anneliese Dodds.
The updated Code has forced universities to review how facilities, including accommodation, toilets and changing rooms can be used once the guidance is formally approved. In a previous statement, a University spokesperson told Cherwell that “the University is reviewing the updated Code carefully to ensure we conduct our activities within the parameters of the law, and in accordance with our values…. Oxford remains committed to being an inclusive university where everyone belongs and is supported to succeed”. The Oxford Student Union also published a statement on Instagram affirming their commitment to “protecting the rights, safety, dignity and wellbeing” of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex students across the University.
At around 3.45pm, violence broke out after a man started shouting and disrupting the demonstrators during a group photo. He returned to pick up a dropped mobile phone and punched multiple transgender rights demonstrators. Another individual shouted, “there’s no such thing as transgenderism”, and followed the march to its finish point.
Three police officers and a police van were also present at the end of the protest outside the courthouse, which is opposite the police station.
The protest was followed by a post-march picnic in “solidarity with trans rowers” on the last day of Summer XIIIs, after changes last month to Oxford University Rowing Clubs’ (OURCs) Rules of Racing, which now mean only athletes assigned female at birth may row in a Women’s boat, at both inter-collegiate and university-level competitions, including this year’s Summer XIIs. The change came after OURCs had to align their inclusion policy with British Rowing, which has advised since September 2023 that only people assigned female at birth will be eligible to compete in the Women’s category.
The changes to OURCs’ Rules of Racing provoked condemnation from college rowing clubs, with 49 college rowing club captains voting against the rule change at an informal vote in a Captain’s meeting, with only 1 voting in favour. In a statement on Instagram, Wadham College Boat Club described the changes as “disproportionate, discriminatory, and impossible to enforce”, whilst Somerville College Boat Club wrote that they were “deeply saddened by the recent rule change…which threatens our long-standing values of inclusivity and friendship”. The Oxford LGBTQ+ Soc President previously told Cherwell they did not see the EHRC guidance changes and the updated Code of Practice for OURCs as “unrelated events”.
Additional reporting by Siyeon Lee, Ned Remington, and Hattie Simpson
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