The strangers who saved women in historic Supreme Court action (2025)

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Eight years ago they had never met and only knew they shared the same desire: to protect the rights of women and girls.

The unlikely trio - a Highland farmer, an NHS worker and a former financial advisor - were all members of online forum Mumsnet.

It was here Trina Budge, Marion Calder and Susan Smith began sharing their frustrations at the erosion of female rights in Scotland and proposed government policies 'wedded to the idea that people can self-identify on sex'.

Ms Budge was in Caithness, while the other two women were based in Edinburgh, but as concerns grew, small groups formed and out of that For Women Scotland (FWS) - a campaign group centred on protecting women's rights - was born.

The group's co-director Ms Budge, 54, admitted that she never imagined herself having to do anything like it.

But she said: 'We were all looking at what was happening in parliament and quite horrified and we couldn't do anything about it.

'It wasn't until the consultation on the Public Boards Act that we started looking at this quite seriously and thought, 'Right, we have a three-month opportunity to get organised'. We spoke to a lawyer...and one thing led to another.'

After 18 months of legal action, in 2022 they won the appeal of their judicial review when the Court of Session ruled that the Scottish Government exceeded its powers by including transwomen in the definition of woman in the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018.

The group's stance has been seen as 'anti-trans' by some transgender activists.

But on FWS's website their message for what they stand for could not be clearer: 'We believe that there are only two sexes, that a person's sex is not a choice, nor can it be changed. Women are entitled to dignity, safety and fairness.'

And since the group's conception in 2018, the three co-directors have received support from thousands of women across the country in a 'tremendous uprising'.

They have campaigned to Scottish politicians over the SNP's Gender Recognition Reforms, have given evidence at consultations for the Census Amendment Bill and the Hate Crime Bill, and held public meetings across the country.

The women have received praise from Harry Potter creator JK Rowling, one of the most famous advocates for women's rights, who in 2021 tweeted: 'Thank you, my sisters xxx' for their support.

Writing in The Sunday Times the following year, the multi-millionaire author described FWS as 'a grassroots feminist group that has emerged as a leading voice for Scottish women over the past few years'.

Ms Smith was even appointed to the board of Ms Rowling's Edinburgh-based Beira's Place, a women only support centre where victims of rape and violence receive counselling and support in a space free from men.

But even after the group's victory in the UK Supreme Court which yesterday ruled that biology determines the legal sex of a woman, they say there is still work to be done.

Ms Budge, who has farmed in Caithness for 30 years, said: 'It would be good to retire but I don't think we're there just yet. This goes against Scottish Government policies which are wedded to the idea that people can self-identify on sex.'

And she stressed: 'We certainly intend on holding them to account.'

EdinburghUS Supreme CourtMumsnetNHS

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