Trans protest to be held in Birmingham following rallies in London and Edinburgh

Trans rights protesters will descend upon Birmingham on Saturday for a demonstration in response to a Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman.

It comes after similar rallies were held in London and Edinburgh at the weekend, following the justices’ ruling on April 16 that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 “refer to a biological woman and biological sex”.

It means that trans women cannot use single-sex female toilets, changing rooms or compete in women’s sports, according to the head of Britain’s equalities watchdog.

Organisers of the Birmingham rally said the demonstration will aim to show solidarity with those affected by the ruling, which they say has far-reaching implications for transgender people accessing single-sex services and spaces.

Brendan McPhillips, one of the organisers of the event, said the city would be presenting a “united front against hatred and discrimination”.

He said: “This protest is set against the historic backdrop of the gay panic, the lives lost to the AIDS crisis, and reminiscent of the fights from yesteryear that only yester-queers will fully understand. We have seen this hate before and now we must stand united against it once again.

“We stand in a united front, united with a single, common goal; for the BIPOC (black, Indigenous and people of colour), Asian, white, brown, black, Irish traveller and Romani trans, non-binary and intersex voices that have been ignored for too long.”

Among the groups supporting the protest, which will be held at 6pm in front of the Birmingham HIV and Aids Memorial in Hurst Street, are Brum Against Hate, the Birmingham LGBT centre and trade unions including Unison and the National Education Union.

Thousands of supporters gathered in central London on Saturday for what was billed as an “emergency demonstration” in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling.

The Metropolitan Police said it is examining footage from the event amid claims some demonstrators had placards featuring death threats.

It is also appealing for witnesses after seven statues were vandalised during the protest.

“Fag rights” and a heart were painted on the banner held on the statue of suffragist Millicent Fawcett, and “trans rights are human rights” was sprayed on the pedestal bearing a memorial to South African military leader and statesman Jan Christian Smuts.