The UK Supreme Court has ruled that a woman is defined by biological sex under the law.
The case was led by a Scottish campaign group, which argued that sex-based protections for women “by definition exclude those who are biologically male”.
On Wednesday, the court ruled in the group’s favour. This means the UK’s legal definition of a woman will no longer include transgender women who hold a gender recognition certificate.
Here’s what you need to know.
Background
Since 2004, transgender people in the UK have been able to apply for a gender recognition certificate (GRC), which allows them to update their legal documents to reflect their gender.
According to the UK Government, a person must meet several requirements to apply. This includes being over 18, having lived as their “affirmed gender” for a period of time, and approval from two doctors.
An expert panel reviews the applications.
In 2018, Scotland passed a law mandating that boards of public organisations be 50% women, 50% men. The law defined trans women who had or were planning to have gender affirming surgeries as women under this law.
That year, a group called For Women Scotland (FWS) formed in opposition.
On its website, FWS says: “We believe that there are only two sexes, that a person’s sex is not a choice, nor can it be changed.”
It brought a case against the Scottish Government, arguing that defining a woman was beyond its powers, because it is ‘devolved’ from the UK.
Scotland
Before we go any further, it’s important to understand the relationship between Scotland and the United Kingdom.
Scotland is a country, but it’s also part of the UK. As a result, it has two governments.
The Scottish Government’s responsibilities include law and order, education, healthcare and social services.
The UK Government’s responsibilities include immigration, energy, human rights, and employment.
Case
Now, back to the Scottish law about board representation.
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In 2020, FWS won a court challenge of that law on the grounds that allowing trans women to be included in the legal definition of a woman was beyond Scotland’s powers.
The Scottish Government then issued new guidance, stating that its law was aligned with the UK-wide Equality Act.
It said the Equality Act defined a woman as “a female of any age,” and that any person with a GRC saying they are female is counted under this definition.
Following this guidance, FWS launched a new case, arguing the act defines women by “biological sex“.
Judgment
On Wednesday, a panel of UK Supreme Court judges unanimously ruled in favour of FWS.
“There is no doubt that Parliament intended the words ‘man’ and ‘woman’ to refer to biological sex” in the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act which the modern law is based on, the judges said.
It ultimately found including these sex discrimination protections to people with GRCs would lead to confusion.
Additionally, concerns were raised around ‘single-sex spaces’ which “require a biological interpretation of “sex” in order to function coherently”.
Examples included sport, the armed forces, and changing rooms.
The judges noted that trans people are still protected from discrimination under the Equality Act “on the ground of gender reassignment”, and “indirect discrimination on the basis of sex.”
“A trans woman can claim sex discrimination because she is perceived to be a woman,” the judges said.
Response
In a post to X, FWS said they were “absolutely jubilant” about the ruling.
‘Harry Potter’ author JK Rowling, who financially supported the group, said trans people “never had the rights [they] claim [they’ve] now lost”.
The Scottish Government said they accepted the ruling and would “engage on [its] implications.”
Advocacy group TransActual said: “The intent seems clear: to exclude trans people wholesale from participating in UK society. Today, we are feeling very excluded.”
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