"The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex."
That was the judgement delivered today by the Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling that has ramifications for women's rights, transgender rights and equalities policy.
In a long-running legal battle, women's rights campaigners had challenged the Scottish government's interpretation of the word "sex" in the Equality Act to count trans women with Gender Recognition Certificates as women.
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Courts in Scotland ruled, and then upheld, in favour of the Scottish government: that sex was "not limited to biological or birth sex". So, For Women Scotland, backed by J.K. Rowling, took their case "all the way to the Supreme Court", with "high hopes of a different result", said Politico. Today's ruling in their favour has implications way beyond Scotland – because the Equality Act applies across Britain.
Despite claims to the contrary, the question under consideration was never "what is a woman?", said Catriona Stewart in The Spectator. Rather, the court ruled on how "woman" and "man" are defined "for the purposes of the law". That "may seem a pedantic distinction but, in a climate where lack of clarity has caused mayhem, pedantry is to be welcomed".
The Scottish government maintained that transgender people were entitled to sex-based protections. For Women Scotland argued that these protections only applied to biological women, and that broadening the definition of sex could complicate Equality Act exemptions which allow single-sex spaces, such as lesbian clubs and female changing rooms.
After "painstaking analysis", the Supreme Court ruled that including people with a Gender Recognition Certificates in the sex group would make the Equality Act read in an "incoherent way". But, since gender reassignment is already included as a separate protected characteristic, the act still protects trans people, not only against discrimination as a protected characteristic, but also "against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment in substance in their acquired gender", said Lord Hodge, the court's deputy president.
In an area of law that was beset with confusion, the ruling has brought "clarity and confidence" for women and for service providers such as hospitals, refuges and sports clubs, said a government spokesperson. "Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this government."
It is a "victory for women's rights", Trina Budge of For Women Scotland, told The Times. "Trans people are protected like anyone else is, but this clarifies women's rights."
The decision will mean that trans women "can no longer sit on public boards in places set aside for women", said The Guardian. It could also lead to "much greater restrictions" on their use of services and spaces reserved for women, and could "spark calls for the UK's laws on gender recognition to be rewritten".
I'm "gutted" by this judgement, said Scottish Greens activist Ellie Gomersall, a 25-year-old trans woman living in Glasgow. The ruling "undermines the vital human rights of my community to dignity, safety and the right to be respected for who we are", and "represents yet another attack on the rights of trans people to live our lives in peace", she told Sky News.
What next?
Edinburgh-based charity Scottish Trans is urging people "not to panic". "There will be lots of commentary coming out quickly that is likely to deliberately overstate the impact that this decision is going to have on all trans people's lives," the charity posted on Bluesky.
Both in Westminster and Holyrood, there's likely to be "renewed pressure" from "noisy campaigners" on both sides, said Politico.
We could see a revival of the Tories' 2024 election campaign promise to "rewrite the Equality Act". And, in Scotland, John Swinney may face demands to "resurrect" Nicola Sturgeon's abandoned efforts to make gender self-identification legal, said The Times. A Holyrood bill, intended to make it simpler for Scottish people to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate, was blocked by a UK government order. This order is now "effectively annulled" by today's ruling, so Scotland's first minister will face "intense pressure from LGBT campaigners and factions within his own party" to push self-identification through.
