New research maps the campaign to erase trans people from UK data.

This peer-reviewed article introduces the term ‘trans-exclusionary data activism’ and offers the first detailed account of how UK campaign groups have sought to define sex as strictly biological across the census, policing, healthcare and digital ID.

Published in the Journal of Gender Studies, it analyses efforts to narrow sex and gender categories in policy, law and data – recording trans, non binary and queer people in ways that conflict with how they identify.

Drawing on publicly available materials from 2019–25 linked to groups such as Sex Matters, For Women Scotland and LGB Alliance, the study outlines core tactics, including:

• Prioritising the collection of ‘biological sex’ data in all instances, regardless of the intended purpose for the data.
• Constructing controversy to keep trans-exclusionary talking points in the media.
• Promoting the false claim that major datasets are ‘corrupted’ because they include trans people.

The tactics – which mirror the anti-trans politics of the Trump administration – is about changing something within trans people rather than changing the signage on toilets and changing rooms.

Read the open-access article here:

Guyan, K. (2026). Trans-exclusionary data activism in the UK. Journal of Gender Studies. doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2025.2611975