Thousands demonstrated in London on Saturday to defend the rights of transgender people.

The rally comes after the United Kingdom's Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the legal definition of a "woman" is someone who is biologically female at birth. 

The decision could have broad implications for single-sex services and spaces such as toilets, hospital wards, and prisons.

At the rally in central London's Parliament Square, protesters waved LGBTQ+ rainbow flags and held signs and banners with slogans including "trans women are women!" and "trans rights are human rights".

How have activists reacted to court's decision?

One of the demonstrators, Eevee Zayas from Spain who identifies as non-binary and transgender, told the AFP news agency that they fear "the extremists will feel empowered" by the court's decision and that "hate crimes against the trans community" would increase.

LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall said Wednesday that the ruling was "incredibly worrying for the trans community."

Amnesty International said that while the "judgment is clearly disappointing" and raises "potentially concerning consequences for trans people," the ruling "does not change the protection trans people are afforded under the protected characteristic of ‘gender reassignment’, as well as other provisions under the Equality Act."

The UK's top court has said its ruling "does not remove protection from trans people," who are "protected from discrimination on the ground of gender reassignment." 

How did the case come about?

The case was brought by women's rights group For Women Scotland, who appealed a law passed by the Scottish Parliament which said the definition of a "woman" included individuals with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).

In its appeal to the Supreme Court, FWS had claimed the Scottish Parliament's ruling could impact sex-based rights and single-sex spaces across Scotland, England, and Wales.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic