Amid a Pride Month that has been more ‘fraught’ than ever, Alex Ryan and Amy Ulliott spoke to LGBTQ+ lawyers about the current state of the legal profession in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on the definition of ‘woman’ and Trump’s crackdown on DEI
Pride Month has been quiet this year in London. After years of firms going out of their way to publicly highlight their support for the LGBTQ+ community via support networks, career initiatives or networking events, June 2025 has seen comparatively little in the way of public statements from the profession.
Gone too have been many of the ‘rainbow lanyards and “yassss, queen”‘ one lawyer jokingly references to describe past Pride efforts.
‘Pride feels more fraught than ever’, observes Garden Court junior barrister and Legal 500 employment rising star Oscar Davies, citing the political climate and pushback against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) on both sides of the Atlantic as drivers for the change.
In the UK, Pride Month started barely six weeks after April’s Supreme Court ruling in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers, in which the court found that the term ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refers to an individual’s biological sex assigned at birth – and that an individual’s identification as trans, even with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), does not change a person’s sex for the purposes of the act.
‘If the Equality Act is meant to be the floor of human rights, the Supreme Court has just blown a trans-sized hole through that floor, with other minorities at risk of falling through’
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) then confirmed later that month, in interim guidance, that while trans people cannot be left without any spaces or facilities to use, they should not be permitted to use facilities that match their gender identity.
‘In some circumstances’, the EHRC noted, ‘the law also allows trans women (biological men) not to be permitted to use the men’s facilities, and trans men (biological woman) not to be permitted to use the women’s facilities’.’
Trans rights and human rights campaigners have criticised the uncertainty produced by the ruling. ‘Rather than adding clarity’, says Davies, ‘they’ve muddied the waters.’
For Davies: ‘If trans people are being told to use a third space, that’s putting them in an intermediate zone. It’s segregating them, ghettoizing them.’
The court’s process has also been criticised. Old Square barrister and Legal 500 employment leading junior Robin White, who earlier this month spoke of being harassed for using the women’s toilet’s in the Parliamentary estate – does not mince her words. ‘I’ve used the words “crackpot” and “incompetent” about the Supreme Court’, she says. ‘I stand by those words.’
She continues: ‘The court has clearly decided what the result ought to be, then ignored things like statements made in parliament, like their duty under the Human Rights Act, which would cause difficulties for the conclusion they wanted to reach.’
The court also did not hear interventions from any trans parties, including from experts Victoria McCloud and Stephen Whittle.
‘We’re all concerned about the trajectory the UK is taking as a place where trans people can live safely’
Davies summarises the ruling: ‘If the Equality Act is meant to be the floor of human rights, the Supreme Court has just blown a trans-sized hole through that floor, with other minorities at risk of falling through.’
Davies says that many LGBTQ+ lawyers are now ‘nervous as to how to move through the profession’ in the wake of the ruling. It’s a position shared by an associate at one international law firm, who described the ruling to LB as ‘arguably the biggest rollback in LGBTQ+ rights in the last century’.
One magic circle firm employee confides: ‘Frankly, we’re all nervous right now. We’re all concerned about the trajectory the UK is taking as a place where trans people can live safely.’
But the ruling is only part of the problem in the eyes of many. In the Rainbow Index rankings of LGBTQ+ legal rights in Europe produced by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) Europe, the UK has slipped every year over the last decade. The gradual decline saw it fall from first place in 2015 to tenth place in 2020 and to to 22nd place in 2025- making it the second-lowest ranked country in Western Europe and Scandinavia, above only Italy.
It also comes at a time of increasing backlash to DEI around the world. This is particularly true in the US, where Donald Trump signed an executive order entitled ‘Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing’ on his first day in office calling for the end of all DEI programmes across the federal government.
The administration followed up on this by zeroing in on DEI in big law on 17 March, when Equal Employment Opportunity Commission acting chair Andrea Lucas sent letters to 20 firms demanding extensive information on all applicants and hires dating back to 2019 as part of an investigation into employment discrimination over DEI.
Five of these firms have since made deals with the Trump administration to provide pro bono work in exchange for protection from punitive action, including Skadden, Kirkland & Ellis, A&O Shearman, Simpson Thacher, and Latham & Watkins.
With the threat of hostile action from the US government hanging over them, many top firms have seemingly scaled back public DEI initiatives and communications – including on LGBTQ+ rights, on both sides of the Atlantic.
Incoming chief executive of the City of London Law Society, Patrick McCann, comments: ‘The current US administration has both created and hastened change, much of it unhelpful and counterintuitive to the values of the UK legal sector – rule of law, access to justice, protection of the vulnerable, judicial independence and the like.’
At the time this article went to press, firms including Skadden, Gibson Dunn, Morgan Lewis, Jones Day and A&O Shearman had no visible posts on social media in relation to Pride.
In contrast, both Slaughter and May and Freshfields, which was the only top 20 global law firm to sign an April amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie’s legal fight against the Trump administration (the court ruled in favour of Perkins Coie on 2 May), have made posts in support of Pride.
‘Firms that have more exposure to the US market are more likely to be sensitive about DEI’
McCann notes that, while ‘the good work is still happening’, ‘terminology is changing and visibility is going’ – and, in some cases, ‘budgets are being cut.’
‘Firms that have more exposure to the US market are more likely to be sensitive about DEI’, says Aster Crawshaw, senior partner at Addleshaw Goddard, which has not only posted in support of pride but added a rainbow filter to its social media logos.
He continues: ‘We’re standing firm, and if anything more so, because we know a lot of people in the LGBTQ+ community are feeling particularly vulnerable at the moment.’
Also standing firm is London planning boutique Town Legal. ‘We are certainly not watering down our commitments’, says founder and managing partner Clare Fielding. ‘I can tell you that for nothing.’
Performative expressions of support for Pride are far from the most important aspect of LGBTQ+ rights, but many lawyers take similar positions to Davies, who says: ‘I’m of the view that surface-level support is better than no support at all. But organisations still need to do better to support their LGBTQ+ colleagues and customers.’
Many in big law stress that it is only public-facing communications that have been scaled back this year, with internal networks and events still taking place. Hogan Lovells, for instance, held an annual Pride Lunch for its Pride Network, according to LinkedIn posts, despite not making any wider Pride posts or other events.
‘The firm’s been a little quiet externally but there’s been no retrenchment on that internal commitment,’ confirms the magic circle worker.
While another adds: ‘We’ve seen a lot of reassuring messaging coming from my firm and from the industry saying that diversity and inclusion is still important. Maybe, in some circumstances, people might be phrasing it differently or calling it something else, but it’s still a priority.’
‘When the wind changes once again, don’t come back and cover all your publicity in rainbow flags – that would be intolerable’
For some, though, this is not enough at a time when members of the LGBTQ+ community feel at risk. They argue that the public silence can provide cover for those firms that are rolling back their commitments. ‘You also have some firms that aren’t changing anything, but still feel afraid to put out a message even internally’, says one associate at a top UK firm.
Fielding says taking responsibility requires more. She says: ‘It also means not changing your principles. It means not watering down your DE&I messaging or your DE&I commitment. That’s what it means to me. Even though the political wind is blowing in a certain direction, I think businesses with integrity should be standing strong and not blowing with it.’
‘Or, if you’re a business that is inclined to blow with the wind, fair enough, that’s your choice – but when the wind changes once again, don’t come back and cover all your publicity in rainbow flags – that would be intolerable.’
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Additional reporting by Bertie Ford
Pride Perspectives:
Clare Fielding: ‘I’m a reluctant activist – as a managing partner I have to be conscious of inclusion for everyone’
Patrick McCann: ‘We need more queer managing partners’
Daniel Winterfeldt: ‘We’ve helped move the UK legal sector from nowhere to a leader for LGBTQ+ inclusion’
Emma Woolcott: ‘We need a plurality of perspectives around the table when decisions are made’
Cai Cherry: ‘It’s easy to think something isn’t your problem – but equality is all of our problem’
