Featuring a number of trans stars and activists, Cosmopolitan’s latest issue reflects on one-year since the UK Supreme Court ruling regarding the 2010 Equality Act’s definition of ‘woman’. In April 2025, the Supreme Court ruled that this definition does not include trans women who hold gender recognition certificates. 

“How exactly the decision would be put into practice, however, was unclear,” writes Cosmopolitan. “At the time of writing, that uncertainty remains. Most public bodies are still waiting for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to say how this should be enacted.” 

Although the court affirmed that trans people are protected under UK discrimination laws, workplaces and public spaces continue to restrict access, and a recent report from TransActual UK noted the increased harassment and hostility faced by the UK trans community as a result of this ruling. 

In the new issue, 13 trans voices from the UK speak to Cosmopolitan about the impact of the ruling: the uncertainty, the heightened fear, and the important work of the queer and trans community to advocate and uplift throughout the past year, building on the work of generations. 

The feature article is accompanied by a cover shoot, featuring the 13 trans stars and activists who shared their experiences within the magazine: Munroe Bergdorf, Zelah Glasson, Bel Priestley, Alexandra Parmar-Yee, Jazmeen Qureshi, Ella Morgan, Hannah, Jude, Alexis, Liam Blake, Johanna Kirkpatrick, Nyongbella and Jen Ives. 

Munroe Bergdorf, model and activist, spoke about the concept of “divide and conquer”. She noted that the rise of anti-trans rhetoric “is a deliberate distraction, diverting society’s attention away from that escalating crisis [of violence against women] and the fact that people can’t feed their children and they can’t heat their homes”. 

 

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Bel Priestley, an actor best known for her role in the hit series Heartstopper, spoke to Cosmopolitan about the additional dangers she now faces as a result of the Supreme Court ruling and its implications across wider society. “My life is now restricted: I get changed before I go to the gym, if I haven’t got makeup on I won’t go to the toilet and I would never travel at night. The rise in hate crimes has been extraordinary – even in the cities that have previously been safe places to be queer,” she said.

Another activist, Alexandra Parmar-Yee, shared how the ruling pushed her to fight back. “I didn’t want to get beaten down and let this become normal,” she said. “I poured myself into my work at Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, a volunteer organisation that does lobbying work for trans rights”. 

Writer and activist Jazmeen Qureshi noted the intersectionality of discrimination faced by so many within the trans community. While the Supreme Court ruling has had an effect on Jazmeen’s life, they want to draw attention to the fact that “many of us – by ‘us’, I mean Black and brown trans women – have never had meaningful access to the protections that have been jeopardised”.  

The range and variety of trans voices within the magazine issue highlights just how wide-reaching the effects of this ruling have been, whilst simultaneously uplifting the incredible advocacy of the community. The article is available to read online now.