Dylan Mulvaney says trans rights ‘shouldn’t be political’ – ahead of ruling to define ‘woman’ | UK News

Social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney has told Sky News discussion about transgender rights should not be political.

Mulvaney, who documented her own transition in a viral TikTok series, was speaking ahead of a Supreme Court judgment in London on Wednesday about how women are defined in law.

The 28-year-old US social media personality told Sky’s Barbara Serra on The World: “I’ve seen my family completely accept me and love me. And I think that that’s why I haven’t given up on any person or any group of people.”

She also called for “transness” to no longer be a political topic – “because it shouldn’t be”.

“We’re just humans trying our best,” she said.

On Donald Trump’s first day back in office, he signed an executive order directing the US government to recognise only two, biologically distinct sexes – male and female.

And he directed the state department to change its policies to only issue passports that “accurately reflect the holder’s sex”.

The administration has said the policy does not constitute unlawful sex discrimination, does not prevent transgender people from travelling abroad, and is vital to addressing the concerns the order raised that indeterminate definitions of sex undermine “longstanding, cherished legal rights and values”.

Asked about Mr Trump’s policies, Mulvaney said: “It’s a sad thing to see someone trying to take away the rights of humans that are just trying to live their lives. Again, we’re not monsters. We’re people that have woken up and stepped into our authentic selves. For me, that’s a very camp, fun, feminine human being who also happens to be a woman.

“And I think what I’m now excited [for] is to step into this next chapter of my life and realise that there are so many other trans people who should be speaking on those things. And I’m finding my way in right now, which is through theatre.”

What’s the background to the court case?

The landmark Supreme Court case, where five judges at the UK’s top court heard arguments last November, is the culmination of a challenge brought by For Women Scotland (FWS) over whether trans women can be regarded as female for the purposes of the 2010 Equality Act.

Wednesday’s ruling may have a big influence over how sex-based rights are applied through the act across Scotland, England and Wales, including implications for the running of single-sex spaces.

Campaigners from FWS say sex-based protections should only apply to people who are born female.

They are challenging the Scottish government, which says they should also include trans people with a gender recognition certificate (GRC).

The FWS action is seeking to overturn a decision by the Scottish courts in 2023 which found treating someone with a GRC as a woman under the Equality Act was lawful.

What have the two sides said?

Ruth Crawford KC, for the Scottish government, told the court last November that a person with a GRC, which she said was a document legally recognising a change of sex and gender, was entitled to the “protection” afforded to their acquired gender as set out in the 2010 Equality Act.

But Aidan O’Neill KC, representing FWS, said “sex just means sex, as that word and the words woman and man are understood and used in ordinary, everyday language, used every day in everyday situations by ordinary people”.

Mr O’Neill called for the court to take account of “the facts of biological reality rather than the fantasies of legal fiction”.

The case is the latest in a series of legal challenges brought by FWS over the definition of “woman” in the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018, which mandates 50% female representation on public boards.

Beer brand ad controversy

In 2023, US sales of Bud Light fell and profits dropped following a boycott of the beer brand after it made a promotional deal with Mulvaney.

Many conservatives, including former US presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, stopped buying Bud Light after Mulvaney posted an ad for the brand on her social media account and shared an image of a personalised can.

Mulvaney told Barbara Serra that for “writing my book I really wanted to make good of a really dark situation that was happening when I took an unexpected beer brand ad”.

“And I think that while that was such a dark period of time in my life, and I think a lot of trans people’s lives, I really wanted to show that if you keep going, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and I’m feeling happy and healthy in my life right now,” she said.

Mulvaney is starring in a new musical in London, called We Aren’t Kids Anymore, starting later this month.