LGBTQ+ charity reports spike in transgender people trying to leave the UK Netherland-based NGO Trans Rescue reported a '40-fold increase' in British transgender people trying to leave the country Protesters gather in St Peter's Square after the Supreme Court ruling (Image: Jake Lindley / Manchester Evening News ) Transgender people are trying to "escape hate in the United Kingdom", an LGBTQ+ charity has said. Netherlands-based NGO Trans Rescue has reported a "40-fold increase" in British transgender people who are looking at ways to leave the country since the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman under the Equality Act 2010. ‌ This saw the Supreme Court rule that for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010, which protects people from discrimination, a woman would "refer to a biological woman and biological sex." The court added that the protected characteristic of "gender reassignment" on the act is still in place. ‌ In light of the ruling charity Trans Rescue, which supports LGBTQ+ people seeking to leave dangerous countries, has said it has seen a spike in transgender people approaching it to look at ways to get out of the UK. Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE Director of Trans Rescue Anne Ogborn said: “We have been concerned for a long time about the climate of fear and hate stoked in the UK media and government by anti-trans forces. Article continues below "The Supreme Court decision however changes conditions from vilification to danger. British trans people are fleeing." While announcing the ruling, the Supreme Court cautioned the public not to take it as a "victory of one group over another". The ruling was welcomed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said it offered "clarity". ‌ Questions have since been opened about whether transgender people will be able to use the bathroom aligned with their gender when going to the toilet in any public facility, including in workplaces and hospitals, and transgender women may be barred from competing in women's sports. Public bodies have also started reviewing their guidance on sex and gender. Since the controversial ruling, British Transport Police have become one of the first to announce an "interim" change in policy, saying that following the ruling any transgender person would be searched by officers who shared the same sex assigned at birth as the transgender person. Article continues below Until 2015 European LGBTQ+ rights group ILGA-Europe consistently ranked the UK as the most LGBTQ+ friendly country in Europe, and ten years later in 2025 the UK has dropped down to 16th.