The UK Supreme Court on Wednesday gave a ruling on the legal definition of a “woman”, saying that it is based on a person’s sex at birth.
The order coming out from the UK is being seen as a landmark decision with far-reaching implications on the topic of transgender rights.
While the court ruled that “the terms ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman, and biological sex”, judge Patrick Hodge, who was a part of the five-member bench, also said that the act also “gives transgender people protection” against discrimination in their acquired gender, AFP reported.
The case was brought to the court by Scottish gender-critical campaigners. The five-judge bench gave a unanimous ruling, which the UK government welcomed for bringing “clarity” to the debate.
The Scottish government and the campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS) had fought the case against each other for years, with the Scottish courts siding with the government on the matter. FWS then launched an appeal to the Supreme Court over an obscure legislation aimed at hiring more women in public-sector bodies.
Dozens of FWS and other gender-critical campaigners, who argue that biological sex cannot be changed, cheered the ruling, hugging and crying outside the court.
“This has been a really, really long ride,” said Susan Smith, co-director of For Women Scotland, adding that the campaigners were “enormously grateful for this ruling”.
“Today, the judges have said what we always believed to be the case: that women are protected by their biological sex,” she said. “Women can now feel safe that services and spaces designated for women are for women”.
What was the contention that brought the case to the UK Supreme Court?
The contention at the heart of the legal battle regarding the definition of woman was the clashing interpretations of the Equality Act (EA).
While the Scottish government argued that the EA gave trans women with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) the same protections as a biological female, FWS contested the notion.
The Supreme Court sided with FWS and ruled that the devolved Scottish government’s “interpretation is not correct” and that the Equality Act was inconsistent with the 2004 Gender Recognition Act that introduced GRC certificates.
The Labour government has backed the ruling and said it brought “clarity and confidence for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs”.
“We have always supported the protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex,” a government spokesperson was quoted by AFP as saying.
Opposition Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch hailed the “victory” for FWS.
“Saying ‘trans women are women’ was never true in fact, and now isn’t true in law either,” Badenoch said.
The ruling also comes at a time when transgender rights are under threat in the United States under President Donald Trump.
Since retaking office, Trump has declared the federal government will recognise only two sexes, male and female. He has also sought to bar trans athletes from women’s sports and curbed treatments for trans children.
The latest UK ruling could pile pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has remained largely silent on trans issues since coming into power last July, to further clarify legislation.
