A guest on Good Morning Britain has hit out against the Women’s Institute ban of trans women – following a court ruling the changed the legal definition of a woman to being based on biological sex.

Rowena Purdy, a trans woman, appeared on the ITV breakfast show to discuss the news, hitting out at ‘men wearing dresses’ who have ‘muddied the water’ for medically transitioned people.

The retiree, who served in the RAF for over a decade, has undergone gender affirming surgery and has been a member of the Women’s Institute for ten years.

Rowena admitted that she was well-received by her peers at WI group meet ups, and was devastated to have to stop attending the events from April.

It follows a change of policy from the Women’s Institute, and the Girlguiding Institute, after the Supreme Court‘s decision earlier this year over the meaning of sex under the Equality Act 2010.

While both groups admitted they did not want to exclude their trans members, it was explained that due to ‘legal’ issues they were pushed towards the decision.

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Rowena Purdy, a trans woman , appeared on the ITV breakfast show to hit out against the Women’s Institute ban of trans women – following a court ruling the changed the legal definition of a woman to being based on biological sex

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The retiree, who served in the RAF for over a decade, has undergone gender affirming surgery and has been a member of the Women’s Institute for ten years

Melissa Green, chief executive of the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, said: ‘Unfortunately the legal position as it stands means that we can no longer offer that.’

Reacting to the news, Rowena hit out ‘if you’re a man, even if you’re wearing a skirt or a bikini, you can’t possibly be a woman’ as she spoke about her experience of medically transitioning and becoming a WI member.

Rowena told hosts Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid: ‘We all know there are men that go around and put dresses on and call themselves women and think that they may not be trans women, but they are not.

‘To be a trans woman there are an awful lot of medical things you have to go through, not necessarily very comfortable, and on my behalf, I am now fully transitioned and so I go to WI.

‘I’ve been a member now for ten years or so and my local group are quite happy with me to the extent they don’t want me to leave in April but I have to go.

‘I think that the waters are very muddied by people who put a dress on and try and get into women’s spaces, and I think that’s wrong.’

‘I can only speak on this in a personal way, I’m not speaking on behalf of the Women’s Institute,’ she clarified.

Asked by Susanna whether she felt the decision was the Supreme Court trying to establish the differences between trans women and as Rowena described ‘men in dresses’, Rowena continued: ‘It was, but there were no transgender spokespeople.

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Rowena admitted that she was well-received by her peers at WI group meet ups, and was devastated to have to stop attending the events from April

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Rowena’s appearance on GMB alongside Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid follows a court ruling the changed the legal definition of a woman to being based on biological sex

‘There was no-one to say, “Hang on a minute, people like me have gone through all the medical side of life and now living quite comfortably and very happily as a full woman”.’

Opening up on the psychological damage the ban has caused, Rowena added: ‘It’s upsetting, and on a personal level, I live on my own, I’m now retired and trying to find things to do, so my monthly meeting with the WI gets me out socially.

‘There’s a social aspect to being a member, and I find that because I am accepted, I’m just another member, and there’s suddenly the news came through, “I’m sorry, you can’t be a member”, I got quite upset.

‘I didn’t get annoyed or cross or anything like that because I can see the legal side of it, and the safe spots for women, I can see the signs of that, and if you’re a man, even if you’re wearing a skirt or a bikini, you can’t possibly be a woman.’

Questioned by Richard about what she would say to viewers who might say that Rowena ‘still has male chromosomes and is therefore still a man’, Rowena admitted it was a ‘difficult point’.

‘Everybody says there are two types of chromosomes, XX and XY, actually if you start looking deeply into it, there are a lot more than just those two,’ Rowena hit back.

‘In a way, yes I can see that you are either XX or XY, but there’s been a lot of research which has decided there’s something called an SRY chromosome where you’re neither one nor the other or in some ways could possibly be both.’

She concluded: ‘The WI is now saying they’re looking at a sisterhood so that if you’re not a full member of the WI you can be an associate type member.

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There are some 180,000 members of the WI nationally, and the prestigious organisation has previously counted royalty among its ranks, most famously the late Queen Elizabeth II

‘We had a meeting on Wednesday when it was all announced, and my group all looked at me and went, “What do you mean you can’t come anymore?”

‘So they’ve looked at it in a different way, and said I can come along as a visitor, it’s not the same but [it doesn’t validate me as a woman].’

It comes after it was confirmed the Women’s Institute is to stop accepting transgender women from April next year in response to the landmark gender ruling from the Supreme Court earlier this year.

The decision has been taken ‘with the utmost regret and sadness’, the 110-year-old organisation said, adding that it retains the ‘firm belief that transgender women are women’.

The National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) said it had made the policy change in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on biological sex in April.

The NFWI news comes a day after Girlguiding announced it would ban trans girls from joining.

NFWI chief executive Melissa Green said: ‘It is with the utmost regret and sadness that we must announce that from April 2026 we can no longer offer formal membership to transgender women.

‘As an organisation that has proudly welcomed transgender women into our membership for more than 40 years, this is not something we would do unless we felt that we had no other choice.

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NFWI chief executive Melissa Green announced today that the WI will no longer be accepting transgender members following April’s Supreme Court ruling on gender

‘To be able to continue operating as the Women’s Institute, a legally recognised women’s organisation and charity, we must act in accordance with the Supreme Court’s judgment and restrict formal membership to biological women only.

‘However, this change is only in respect to our membership policy and does not change our firm belief that transgender women are women.’

The NFWI said while it can no longer ‘legally offer formal membership to transgender women’ after the Supreme Court ruling, the organisation will ‘bring forward programmes to continue to extend fellowship, sisterhood, and support to transgender women’.

Accordingly the WI is expected to launch new ‘sisterhood groups’ from April which will be open for anyone, including trans women, to join.

Ms Green said these groups would serve as ‘a place where we will recognise transgender women as women and explore what it is to be a woman in the 21st century’.

All existing trans members of the WI were informed of the decision before today, it is understood.

There are some 180,000 members of the WI nationally, and the prestigious organisation has previously counted royalty among its ranks, most famously the late Queen Elizabeth II.

The WI, similarly to Girlguiding, does not hold data on how many of its members are transgender.

The change comes after the Supreme Court ruled in April that within the 2010 Equality Act, the term ‘women’ relates to biological women.

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The WI’s announcement comes a day after Girlguiding said it, too, would no longer allow trans members (stock image)

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The Princess of Wales talks to members during a visit to the National Federation of Women’s Institute (WI) in Sunningdale, Berkshire, in September

The judgement marked the culmination of a long-running legal battle between the Scottish government and a women’s group over the definition of a ‘woman’ in Scottish legislation mandating 50 per cent female representation on public boards.

The case centred on whether somebody with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) recognising their gender as female should be treated as a woman under the 2010 Equality Act in this context.

Reacting to Women’s Institute’s announcement, Trans+ Solidarity Alliance founder Jude Guaitamacchi said: ‘The government needs to act to ensure clarity for organisations on how to remain trans-inclusive, rather than leave them at the mercy of anti-trans lawfare forcing them to betray their own values.

‘Imagine being a group that has welcomed trans members for generations being told who you can and cannot associate with, regardless of the wishes of the group itself. It’s cruel and a failure of this government to protect human rights, including freedom of association.’

The WI’s announcement comes after it was announced yesterday that transgender girls will no longer be able to join the Brownies or Girl Guides.

Girlguiding said it had come to the ‘difficult’ decision after parents threatened legal action against the group following the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year.

The organisation said it had consulted with senior members, young members and sought legal advice in making its decision.

It is understood that the decision will affect new members joining but will not affect current members of the organisation, with more information coming next week.

But despite affecting the children who join the group, the change will not affect adult volunteers, as these roles remain open to all.

Girlguiding updated its guidance in 2018 to allow transgender girls to join, stating at the time that it was ‘proudly trans inclusive’.

Earlier this year a letter from a parent, who spoke out on condition of anonymity to protect her daughter’s identity, accused the charity of failing to follow the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman.

The letter, seen by The Times, argued that the policy created an ‘intimidating, hostile humiliating or offensive environment.

The parent said this included ‘sharing toilets, showers or changing facilities with boys, contact sports with boys, all without their knowledge or consent.

Advocacy organisation TransActual described Girlguiding’s policy change as ‘yet another horrible act of violence against the most vulnerable trans people’.

Organisations across the UK are still awaiting new transgender guidance produced by the equalities watchdog the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which is being assessed by Government.

Ministers have had the guidance for three months but have vowed not to ‘rush’ publication of a proposed code of practice which will be used by businesses and other organisations to inform their provision of single and separate-sex services such as toilets and changing rooms.

The guidance requires ministerial approval and would only come into force 40 days after the Government had laid the draft code in Parliament.

The EHRC wrote to women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson in October urging her to hurry up with bringing in the new guidance, saying some organisations were currently using unlawful practices.

The code has not been updated since 2011 and the latest draft has been produced in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.