Mostly, we queued. To get through the gates. To get through security. To submit green cards. The relative few who’d been given appointments with their MPs were fast-tracked through. In Westminster Hall, there was a slow yet steady stream of call-ups for constituents whose green cards had been answered.

One rarely finds joy in the Great British queue, but on 25 June 2025 we did. Trans+ Solidarity Alliance (TSA) organized a mass lobby of Parliament as a response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on For Women Scotland v. The Scottish Ministers and the subsequent EHRC guidance – both of which have attracted a good deal of criticism;** both of which we’ve written about for this blog.

Queueing for the Cromwell Green entrance to Parliament

According to TSA volunteers at the event, more than 1,000 individuals had registered to take part in the mass lobby. When I left, the volunteers couldn’t be sure how many of those who’d registered had come; there was no way of keeping a real-time count, and not everyone queueing was there for the TSA-coordinated mass lobby. What we did know, though: the average wait time for getting into Parliament is around 45 minutes. The mass lobby began at 13:00. We heard rumour of someone who’d arrived a little before the start-time and was through the doors inside of fifteen minutes. I arrived, not long after 13:00, and waited just over three hours to get in. As of 26 June 2025, TSA report that some waited over four hours.

Queueing at the security gates

People had turned out and we celebrated the queue and our queueing. Bridget had come from Birmingham; Lorraine and Gareth from Sussex, in solidarity with all LGBTQIA+ persons for love of their adult child.*** The line was quiet yet buoyant. It was hot, around 27˚C. TSA volunteers handed out bottles of water; they made us aware that GB News was working the line, asking for comment and not necessarily volunteering which channel they represented. They didn’t come to us – a shame; Bridget would have spoken to them – and soon they were gone. Communal sunscreen was passed back and forth – organized, I think, by Parliamentary staffers, a few of whom wore rainbow lanyards, and who offered umbrellas to shade queuers from the sun.

Bridget (with permission), who would’ve spoken to GB News

Within hours of the action, news reports stated over 1,400 signatories to and, according to Pink News, over 1,000 attendees at the mass lobby. Like most others, I was unable to arrange a meeting with my MP in advance of the mass lobby, so, once inside Westminster Hall, I submitted a green card, a same-day request to meet with an MP which is handwritten on a green chit. A TSA volunteer said they needed straight lines at the green card tables; somewhere nearby a lobbyer called back that theirs was a queer line. 

Queer & straight lines at the green card table, Westminster Hall

I’d intended to wait for a while after green-carding my MP, on the chance that she was present and able to meet. It was nearly 17:00. The mass lobby had been due to finish at 16:00. But so many people were still waiting to get through that, we were told, the gates would remain open until 19:00. We’d registered with TSA on entering Westminster Hall, and our green cards were a record that we’d come to Parliament and had tried to speak with our elected representatives. We were part of the headcount. More people would be able to pass through Parliament and add to that count we didn’t hang around too long after green-carding. Hit it and quit it, as the song goes. I waited twenty minutes, a half hour maybe; checked in with a TSA volunteer and gave them my MP’s name; left.

Today felt hopeful and hopeful felt good. But – though one hates to end on both a cliché and a downer – of course it doesn’t end here. The legal challenges, led by the Good Law Project, to the Supreme Court Ruling and to the EHRC continue. LGBTQ- and Trans-rights campaigns continue (see the note at the end of this post). The EHRC’s public consultation on its Statutory Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations is open until the end of the month. As TSA points out, it is designed to be onerous and confusing; and yet Trans-rights organizations like Mermaids and TransActual have guidance on how to respond quickly and supportively of the LGBTQIA+ community.**** So: a good day, and we go on.

Notes

*While this is an education research blog and the educational relevance of this piece may not be obvious, we note that (a) many of the LGBTQIA+ organizations referred to have an educating mission; (b) that this post is an extension of previous posts I and friends have written about gender, politics, and education; and (c) if there is anything in this post you didn’t already know, then you’ve learned something.

**See, among others, campaigns and responses by Trans+ Solidarity Alliance, TransActual, Mermaids, Consortium, Trans Matters Worldwide, The Good Law Project.

***Bridget, Lorraine and Gareth, if you’re reading this: get in touch! Thanks for being good queue buddies.

****In essence: if you support LGBTQIA+ rights, don’t have much time, but would like to respond to the consultation, strongly disagree with the EHRC’s proposals/position.