Lib Dem Women and Equalities Spokesperson Christine Jardine has written to Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson to ask for an urgent meeting to address the implications for the LGBTQ+ community in the wake of this week’s Supreme Court judgement.

On social media, Christine said:

I am increasingly disappointed that the concerns of the #LGBTQ+ community over what the Supreme Court judgement means for them are not yet being addressed. I have written to the Government asking them to make clear how trans and non binary rights will be protected.

In her letter, she asks that before any decisions are made, trans and non binary people are fully comsulted. She said:

I therefore urge your government to bring forward urgent guidance on how existing legislation will protect those rights, whether fresh legislation is envisaged and how the ruling’s practical implications will be resolved.

This must include significant steps to provide trans and non-binary people with the reassurance they deserve. To do this, the guidance must ensure rights that trans people have freely used for decades are not overturned.

These steps should also include open consultation with trans and non-binary communities, to better understand the ruling’s impact and whether any further legislative or policy change is needed to ensure that everyone’s rights are protected.

The full text of her letter is below.

Dear Minister,

I would like to request an urgent meeting to discuss the recent Supreme Court ruling and its implications for the LGBTQ+ community.

Across the country, many are understandably feeling worried, uncertain or fearful about what this week’s ruling will mean for them.

While the Supreme Court ruling reaffirmed that trans people’s rights must be respected under the law,the media coverage has undoubtedly fuelled the fear and anxiety that so many trans people are feeling right now.

I therefore urge your government to bring forward urgent guidance on how existing legislation will protect those rights, whether fresh legislation is envisaged and how the ruling’s practical implications will be resolved.

This must include significant steps to provide trans and non-binary people with the reassurance they deserve. To do this, the guidance must ensure rights that trans people have freely used for decades are not overturned.

These steps should also include open consultation with trans and non-binary communities, to better understand the ruling’s impact and whether any further legislative or policy change is needed to ensure that everyone’s rights are protected.

For too long, trans people have been targeted by divisive culture wars, on top of the deeply entrenched structural inequalities that trans people already face in so many aspects of life. It is vital that this judgement is not used to further those culture wars or to justify rolling back anyone’s rights.

I will happily work with your government to do everything possible ensure this does not happen.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely

Christine Jardine