I fight back by clearing a path

It’s been a long time since I posted on this blog. And, indeed, I had to rebuild my whole blog from scratch (thanks, unmaintained dependencies!) just so I could write this.

If you’re here, you probably already know the news that the Supreme Court of the UK ruled this week that the definition of “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 is “biological sex”, and this has caused a flurry of commentary, mostly opposing the ruling and promising to fight back.

I have a take on this that I hadn’t seen elsewhere, so I wanted to share it with you all.

For those who don’t know me, I’m Quinn, my pronouns are they/them and I am a transfeminine non-binary person and a professional leader in the software engineering world.

My thoughts on the judgement itself

I don’t want to dwell on this too long, but I had a few immediate thoughts about the judgement that I hope are helpful to hear.

It’s extremely disappointing to hear the headline version of this judgement, and it sounds a lot like a major win for transphobia. The press is reporting that “the law now has a definition of woman” but that’s far from what the judgement actually said in its full text. My thoughts in brief:

• I’m pleased to see people are not hating on the judges too much. It’s not their job to make laws, only to interpret them, and all this judgement has done is shown that the law - as it currently stands - isn’t correct and needs fixing. It’s right that the target of our resistance is the hate group that brought this case and the people who fund them, and Parliament who have the power to change the law.
• The Equality Act has always protected people based on their perceived characteristics and the judgement (paragraph 140) explicitly refers to this, saying that trans women are still protected from sex discrimination even if the law (in its current form) doesn’t recognise them as holding the protected characteristic. This has been used before, for example, to win cases where someone has experienced homophobia at work despite not being gay.
• As far as I know, there is no legally acceptable definition of the term “biological sex”, meaning that without further guidance and interpretation, the thrust of this judgement is unenforceable. Transphobic groups like to pretend that this term is easy to define, based on their GCSE-level understanding of biology, but actual biologists unanimously disagree: humans do not fit neatly into two categories - observed primary sex characteristics at birth, sex recorded on a birth certificate, chromosomes, hormone profiles, secondary sex characteristics developed during puberty, childbearing ability etc. do not align into two neat groups, and for a large percentage of the population.
• But most importantly, it’s worth remembering why we describe hate groups like the one that brought this case as “reactionary”: it’s because they’re reacting to a change in public opinion. They fight because we are being accepted more and more every day by the public at large. The more they fight, the more we know that in the long run, we are winning.

Clearing a path

I used to be very active in politics. I was part of the group that updated the policy on trans rights for the UK’s 5th most popular political party, and I stood for that party in the general election of 2019.

I made a decision (thanks, YearCompass!) to focus on myself in 2025 and to bring my activism closer to home. Of course, I support all my trans siblings who are joining the fight and the protest, but this year I am fighting back by clearing a path.

Amongst the trans people of the UK, I am very privileged. I was born into a white, English-speaking family of the lower middle class in a time when that class had disposable income. I have trained for a profession that capitalism has decided will be disproportionately well paid, and not coming out as trans until my thirties allowed me to advance my career on “easy mode” for the first decade.

I think sometimes activists see privilege as something to feel “guilty” about, but that’s not what it is. Privilege is a windfall - currency you were given that you didn’t earn, and if you have it then it’s your responsibility to spend it wisely so that it uplifts the people who didn’t get the same freebie.

Another privilege I get is that my version of autism comes with an auditory processing disorder, meaning I rarely hear any transphobic comments made about me or to me. Three times I have been walking with someone who expressed solidarity with me in response to a comment they heard: on none of those occasions did I even hear the comment!

Kindness and positivity

My brand is kindness, positivity and optimism. On the internet, and in real life, you’re not going to see me feeling despair or hopelessness about the future. You’re not going to see me angry and swearing when people try to do harm to me and my siblings.

Those expressions are valid; nay, they are needed! But you can look to me for the flipside - the reminder that things always go backwards before they get better, and that while some of us might not get through this, as a society we will.

And I want to remind people that trans folk are not just victims - we are full, complete human beings with lives. We have friends and partners who are not trans, and we can be every bit as kind, open, loving and supportive of them as we can of our trans siblings. This, too, is part of my personal brand.

Clearing a path in my local community

In 2022 I moved to Farsley from central Leeds. This coincided with the time in my life I was getting more and more confident dressing “as me” in public - on the street and in shops, bars, cafés and restaurants.

I think if you spend a lot of time following the battle for our rights online and in the media, you’d think that a “traditionally white working class village” (albeit one that is undergoing a measure of gentrification) would be an extremely hostile place for transfeminine people to be ourselves. That we’d be met with abuse, fear or poor service everywhere we go.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I am an extremely active patron and champion of the local economy in my village. Many business owners know me by name here, and I always have a positive and welcoming experience walking around my village and spending time in all the amazing shops and services we have here. Initially I was afraid to be so visibly trans but now I don’t even give it a second thought.

The closest I’ve got to abuse is occasional stares and people making comments to their friends, but this happens so rarely compared with the warmth and acceptance that I get when people see a member of their community thriving, enjoying, promoting and spending in the local economy and community here.

The best thing about this is that I know that while right now I am probably “that trans person” in Farsley to many of the business owners and to my neighbours, I am hopefully clearing a path to mainstream acceptance of us in this village and beyond, just by being a valuable and enthusiastic member of this community where trans experiences aren’t currently centred. And this community is responding extremely positively to my existence in it!

Clearing a path in my profession

There are loads of great trans people in software engineering (some of whom I know personally), and my story is not unique. But I have been fortunate (and privileged) enough to rise to the level of a respected leader in the field: someone people will pay to come in and help teams to become happier and more productive.

I do this work whilst being unashamedly trans (and autistic) in the workplace. Shouting about the trans experience as loudly as possible and in as many places as possible. Making sure that everyone I come into contact with knows that not only am I really good at my job, I do it whilst moving through the world as a transfeminine person.

Partly, this helps people to understand that we are not to be feared and we are not charity cases - we are real people who can be every bit as good at our jobs as any cis person - but mostly I am doing this because on every team I have worked in, I have encountered other trans or gender-questioning people and other neurodivergent people. People who are worried that their identities will hold them back in their careers.

I want those people to know they have a choice. That it is possible to be successful and trans. That is is possible to be respected and trans. That it is possible to be a leader and trans. My activism is using my privilege to clear a path for all the many trans people who come after me, so they know they can succeed every bit as much as their cis colleagues.

Building and strengthening community

My activism is also building community. I am extremely proud to have been the co-organizer of Yorkshire O.P.E.N for over 13 years, and to have seen it grow from nothing into the thriving, diverse and welcoming community it has become. And now I’ve been able to help with the creation and initial success of Pride Place, the first LGBTQ+ community centre in Leeds.

Building spaces where people feel safe (or safer), and can connect with others like them, is itself a kind of activism. Everyone who is part of a community is part of building that community, and I hope that if you are a trans person reading this that you too recognise that all the communities you are a part of are helping to make a better world for people like us.

Living my life

And I clear a path just by living my life. Being trans is a major part of my identity, but there is so much more to my life than my gender.

In the media, we are often reduced to one-dimensional caricatures of a person, that we don’t have anything else that interests us other than fighting for our rights.

Having tons of interests and enjoying the same activities that cis people enjoy is a huge part of how I fight back. I fight back by existing, by having tons of interests and hobbies, by loving life, and by taking up the appropriate amount of space, same as any cis person.

Hope for the future

I wanted to leave you with this very positive and hopeful thought:

I have never seen such an outpouring of support from cis allies. There have been many, many setbacks on the road to our rights in the last few years, but something about this particular event this week has galvanised our friends, our families, to join the fight back. I have had so many more personal messages of concern from cis friends who wanted to know if I’m OK than with any other news story.

It’s a sad reality of struggles for rights that generally they only win once people who already have those rights fight alongside us. Now is the time for us to turn to the cis for their support; to let them fight for us for a bit - partly so we can clear paths if we want to, partly so we have space to enjoy and live our lives, and partly because we know that politicians can’t afford to not listen to them.

If you are a cis ally, here’s where I’d love for your activism to be directed:

1. Shine a light on all the brilliant trans people who are clearing a path. Make sure everyone knows we are valuable members of society, and we are every bit as important and talented as our cis neighbours.
2. Work to get Parliament to change the law. The ruling isn’t going anywhere now it’s out there: it’s shown that the law is wrong and we can lobby judges all we like but it’s Parliament who get to change the law, not judges.

And please remember: the hate groups are called reactionary because they are reacting to us getting more acceptance. In the long run, we are winning this fight.