Gogglebox star Stephen Webb ‘wore trans flag’ at London Marathon amid Supreme Court woman ruling fallout
Gogglebox star Stephen Webb wore a trans flag while running the London Marathon on Sunday.
The Channel 4 show fan-favourite’s move follows the historic Supreme Court ruling earlier this month on the definition of a woman relating only to biological women and recent changes to NHS guidance on children with gender dysphoria.
Trans activist Ella Morgan posted a picture to her Instagram story of Webb sporting his runners medal and holding the white, pink and cyan flag above his head.
“My bestie ran the marathon today and wore the trans flag with him for me… I want to cry,” she captioned the image.
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“Love you @stephengwebb1971… so proud of you,” Morgan added.
The Channel 4 armchair critic later reposted the image to his own Instagram. Earlier, he filmed a triumphant selfie video of himself after completing the race.
“Boom! There she is,” Webb celebrated while brandishing his medal.
The star revealed he had conquered the 26 mile race in five hours and 28 minutes.
“I’m absolutely over the moon with that! I thought I was going to be a- I’m not going to swear, six hours,” he said, breathless.
He signed off: “I’m off to Gordon’s to get a pint and a fag!”
Webb also shared pics from his race, where the flag could not prominently be seen, along with congratulations from fans.
The Gogglebox’s stars appearance with a symbol of transgender solidarity followed the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling over the definition of a woman earlier this month.
Justice’s in London determined that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 “refer to a biological woman and biological sex”.
The ruling meant that trans women with a gender recognition certificate can be excluded from single-sex spaces if “proportionate”.
Speaking in the Supreme Court, Lord Hodge declared that it was not the court’s responsibility to create policy on the way in which transgender people should be protected by the law.
“Our role is to ascertain the meaning of the legislation which parliament has enacted to that end,” he said.
In an 88-page-long judgement, Lord Hodge, Lady Rose and Lady Simler explained that while the word “biological” does not appear in the definition of man or woman in equality legislation, “the ordinary meaning of those plain and unambiguous words corresponds with the biological characteristics that make an individual a man or a woman”.
The move was celebrated by woman’s advocacy groups, such as For Women Scotland who spearheaded the push to change the interpretation, as a victory for “common sense”.
However, the ruling also prompted protests from trans groups who took to the streets of London after the rule.
The debate has been further stoked after it was announced that transgender children will be tested for autism under new efforts to identify underlying “neurodevelopmental conditions”.
The NHS is thought to have revised their guidelines on gender clinic is so that every child is “holistically assessed for neurodevelopmental conditions” such as ADHD.
The move follows a review conducted by Baroness Cass into gender identity services for children across the UK last year.
Her investigation revealed that young people who experience gender dysphoria were more likely to suffer from such “neurodevelopmental conditions”.