Girlguiding tells trans girls they must leave by early September

Transgender girls must leave Girlguiding by early September, the organisation has told its members.

The move follows an announcement in December, stating that transgender girls would no longer be able to join the organisation, as it confirmed it was limiting its membership to “girls and young women”.

Described by Girlguiding at the time as a “difficult decision”, it came almost eight months after the April 2025 Supreme Court ruling, which said the words “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.

Girlguiding said that since that ruling, it had undertaken “detailed considerations, expert legal advice and input from senior members, young members”, its council and board of trustees.

In an update on Tuesday, the organisation said trans girls who are members can stay until September 6.

It added that any trans girl or trans woman who is currently volunteering in a role open to women only will be required to move by this date to a position that is open to males or females.

In a statement, the organisation said: “Today, Girlguiding shared further operational information with our members about the timings for this change. The update explained that current young members who are trans girls can stay with Girlguiding until 6 September 2026.

“This allows affected members and their families time to plan, prepare, access support, and decide when – between now and September – they feel ready to leave.

“Any trans girl or trans woman who is currently volunteering in a role open to women only, will need to move to a role that is open to all volunteers by 6 September 2026.”

Members can range in age from four to 18 and there are currently around 300,000 across the Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers groups within Girlguiding, as well as around 80,000 volunteers.

The organisation has previously said it does not collect gender identity information on its members and therefore does not have numbers for how many might be affected by the rule change.

Girlguiding insisted it remains “committed to standing up for the rights, safety and dignity of girls and women, and to supporting marginalised communities, including LGBTQ+ people, to improve the lives of girls”.

It called for the upcoming guidance on single-sex spaces which was drafted by Britain’s rights watchdog the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and is currently being considered by Government, to be “clear, workable and informed by the voices of young people and volunteering organisations, to ensure that the wellbeing of all girls remains at its heart”.

Campaign group Trans+ Solidarity Alliance described the news as “heartbreaking for the children and volunteer leaders that hold Girlguiding together”.

It said: “Inclusive organisations being bullied into excluding people against their will is a profound failure of this Government to live up to its promises to the trans community.”

Following the initial announcement last year on the change to membership, a coalition of volunteers and parents argued that refusing a child based on their gender identity “sends a message of rejection” to young people.

Guiders Against Trans Exclusion (Gate) coordinated demonstrations in various UK cities at the time.

But while some volunteers within Girlguiding have threatened to resign over the issue, others welcomed the change, saying they had expressed safeguarding concerns and were pleased at the new approach.

It was also announced in December that transgender women will be banned from becoming members of the Women’s Institute from April.

Making its announcement at the time the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) said the decision had been taken “with the utmost regret and sadness”, adding that it retains the “firm belief that transgender women are women”.

Similarly to Girlguiding, the NFWI said it does not hold data on how many of its members are transgender.