Students and trade union members held a protest outside Senate House last Friday (13/02) in support of transgender rights.

Demonstrators gathered outside Senate House at around 7pm, holding transgender pride flags and signs that said “Trans Rights Now” and “Fight for LGBT+ liberation”.

Multiple Cambridge University societies were represented at the protest, including the Cambridge Socialist Workers’ Student Society (SWSS), the Cambridge Marxist Society, and the Cambridge University Labour Club (CULC). The demonstration was also endorsed by Cambridge for Palestine and Your Party Cambridge.

The ‘Trans Liberation Solidarity Rally’ was held in response to the Cambridge University Society of Women’s (CUSW) decision to host academic and commentator Joanna Williams for a talk and Q&A on the day of the protest. This was the controversial new society’s “first ever fully public event,” according to their social media.

A spokesperson for CUSW told Varsity: "The Cambridge University Society of Women supports and promotes freedom of speech within the law. Our well-attended event last Friday sparked varied and open discussion. We look forward to hosting more this term for our members, other students and the general public."

In an Instagram post, SWSS stated: “We must not let this hatred go unchallenged.” The post also referenced comments made by Williams on X, including her criticism of Covid-19 lockdown measures in 2021, a remark about a transgender NHS doctor in which she claimed, “I pray I never have to see a doctor so ignorant of basic biology,” and her description of Islamophobia as “an idea dreamt up by Islamists and anti-racist NGOs to stymie criticism of Islam”.

In response, Joanna Williams told Varsity: "I am grateful to members of the Cambridge Socialist Workers’ Student Society for taking the time and trouble to go back over four years' worth of my social media output. They have reminded me of my many brilliant hot takes on the issues of the day. It is a shame they did not have the courage to attend the excellent discussion organised by CUSW – they may well have learnt a thing or two."

The rally began with a speech from a member of SWSS, who stated that the purpose of the protest was to “show our love and unity in this town”.

Another speaker then addressed the crowd, claiming that “a small minority are trying to make Cambridge unsafe” and that “trans women are women, trans men are men, and non-binary people exist”.

The speaker claimed that transgender people are “being denied healthcare” across the UK, and that the 2025 Supreme Court ruling on the definition of ‘sex’ under the Equality Act 2010 “harms all women”.

They argued that trans exclusion has been “crucial” for the rise of Reform UK and Trump in the US, and criticised the Cambridge University Conservative Association’s (CUCA) organisation of a talk by Reform UK adviser Jack Anderton.

CUCA had justified the invite by describing Anderton as “an important, young advisor for Britain’s most popular political party,” whose “voice and views are relevant to the political discourse of Britain, in particular young people”.

The speaker also voiced solidarity with Palestine, and cited the High Court’s ruling, which was delivered on the day of the protest (13/02), that the ban of Palestine Action under terrorism legislation was unlawful as evidence that “when we fight back against the right, we can win”.

Later, a member of the National Education Union’s Cambridgeshire branch addressed the protesters, highlighting the value in the “town versus gown” divide being broken in this protest.

In a post about the rally on their Instagram, CULC commented that it was “great to see unions and students demonstrating together for trans rights”.

Demonstrators chanted that “trans lives are what we’re for” and “Cambridge has no place for hate”.

A Marxist Society and Revolutionary Communists Cambridge member then spoke to the crowd, condemning “the escalating culture war” as an “attempt from the ruling class to distract from real issues”. They claimed that the “populist right” act “as if they are the only anti-establishment option”.

The final speaker at the demonstration criticised that CUSW is officially registered with the University, claiming that protesting would not stop until the society is disaffiliated. They also encouraged demonstrators to join a ‘March Against the Far Right’ set to take place in London next month.

After the protest, a SWSS member told Varsity: “I applied to this University because I thought it was a place of acceptance and inclusion.” However, they called the “rapid” escalation of trans exclusion at the University, exemplified by the removal of trans students from the college football league, a “disgrace”.

The protest, which drew a crowd of around 30 people, lasted approximately half an hour.

The activist group Trans Liberation Cambridge posted on social media that they were not involved in the protest, stating that they did not want to draw further attention to CUSW and that they “don’t work with the Socialist Workers’ Party or the Socialist Workers’ Student Society for various reasons”.

The University of Cambridge was contacted for comment.