Last weekend, thousands of trans people and allies gathered in the streets of London to protest against the UK Supreme Court ruling on the definition of ‘woman’.

On April 16, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the legal definition of ‘woman’ under the Equality Act 2010 does not include trans women who hold gender recognition certificates (GRCs). The decision caused widespread outrage both in the UK and abroad, with activists condemning the court’s decision and highlighting its real-life repercussions on trans women.

On Saturday, April 19, Parliament Square in London was filled with activists demanding protections for trans rights, with people carrying banners and waving trans flags. The protest was described as an “emergency demonstration” following the Supreme Court ruling, with several trans rights groups, community organisations and trade unions joining forces to bring the large crowd together.

Among the groups involved in organising the protest were Trans Kids Deserve Better, Pride In Labour, Front For The Liberation Of Intersex Non-binary And Transgender people (Flint) and TransActual. Speaking to Sky News, strategy director at TransActual, Keyne Walker, said: “The mood is jubilant and also angry and also people are anxious.

“Right now trans people are coming together to demonstrate to the country, and to everybody else, that we’re not going anywhere because we don’t have anywhere to go,” Walker said. “Queer people have been through worse than this before, and… we’ll suffer through whatever is to come in the next few years.”

The activist added: “The government needs to immediately clarify how they are going to protect trans people and what this ruling actually means for spaces.

“It does not bring clarity. Businesses and venues at the moment don’t know what they can and can’t do. The government needs to step in and put equalities law back on a sound footing.”

Sophie Gibbs, a 19-year-old transgender woman who took part in the protest, told the Associated Press: “It’s a terrifying time to have your rights taken away from you.

“I was disappointed to think that we could live in a society that seems so progressive now but is willing to make such a dangerous and harmful ruling.”

Similar protests against the Supreme Court ruling also took place in Edinburgh and Cardiff, where people organised trans liberation marches calling for government action to protect the rights of the community.