The Women’s Institute said it can no longer allow trans women to join as members, a day after Girlguiding in the UK also said it will no longer admit transgender girls into their groups.
This decision was taken ‘with the utmost regret and sadness’ having admitted trans women for 40 years, the Women’s Institute said, adding that it still has a ‘firm belief that transgender women are women’.
It follows a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year, which stated that the words ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological woman and biological sex.
National Federation of Women’s Institute (WI) chief executive Melissa Green said: ‘As an organisation that has proudly welcomed transgender women into our membership for more than 40 years, this is not something we would do unless we felt that we had no other choice.’
Many members will find the decision ‘extremely painful’, she added, and some transgender members are understood to have been contacted to explain the reasons for the change in policy from April 2026.
Ms Green said: ‘To be able to continue operating as the Women’s Institute, a legally recognised women’s organisation and charity, we must act in accordance with the Supreme Court’s judgment and restrict formal membership to biological women only.
‘However, this change is only in respect to our membership policy and does not change our firm belief that transgender women are women.’
She said that although trans women would no longer be able to be members, they would still be welcome at monthly ‘sisterhood’ events for people to socialise, learn, and ‘share their experiences of living as women’.
Yesterday, Girl Guiding also said they made the ‘difficult decision’ to exclude trans girls from joining after ‘detailed considerations, expert legal advice and input from senior members, young members’.
It was immediately met with dismay, including from broadcaster and former Made in Chelsea star Ashleigh James, who said she was ‘heartbroken’ and would be resigning as a Girlguiding ambassador.
Campaign group TransActual described the policy change as ‘yet another horrible act of violence against the most vulnerable trans people’.
It is not clear how the new rule will be enforced, e.g. if organisations will require those joining to show a birth certificate.
Neither the Women’s Institute or Girl Guiding collect data on how many of their members are transgender, so it is also not known how many people will be affected directly.
It comes after a former Girlguiding leader said she was expelled due to her ‘gender-critical’ beliefs.
Ex-unit leader Katie Alcock, a psychology lecturer at Lancaster University, initiated legal proceedings against Girlguiding when she was ‘kicked out’ of the organisation in 2018.
She said: ‘I was concerned men and boys would be in safeguarding-relevant situations such as changing for swimming, such as using toilets, such as sleeping in the same hall.
‘I said (before the exclusion) I would follow any policy of Girlguiding as long as it didn’t conflict with safeguarding and they said this wasn’t acceptable.’
Campaigners have claimed Girlguiding was ‘being forced to exclude young trans girls by adults with bigotries and institutional power’.
TransActual said: ‘It’s awful that an organisation, which would happily be inclusive and has been for many years, is being forced to exclude young trans girls by adults with bigotries and institutional power.
‘There is no problem being solved here, only harm being done.
‘This is yet another horrible act of violence against the most vulnerable trans people for which the government is ultimately responsible.
‘Another trauma that will leave a generation of young LGBTQ+ people scarred for life.’
Around 300,000 young people are members of the Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers groups, ranging in age from four to 18.
Under the policy, trans boys will still be able to join as they will have been recorded female at birth.
Girlguiding’s chairwoman of trustees, Denise Wilson, its chief executive Felicity Oswald and its chief guide Tracy Foster released a joint statement, saying: ‘Girlguiding has reached the difficult decision that going forward, membership of Girlguiding will be restricted to girls and young women, as defined in the Equality Act (2010).
‘From today (December 2), trans girls and young women, and others not recorded female at birth, will no longer be able to join Girlguiding as new young members.
‘Girlguiding believes strongly in inclusion, and we will continue to support young people and adults in marginalised groups.
‘Over the next few months, we will explore potential ways to champion this value. A new task force will look at ways to do this, in partnership with members.
‘While Girlguiding may feel a little different going forward, our core aims and principles will always endure and we remain committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect, particularly those from marginalised groups that have felt the biggest impact of this decision.’