UK Supreme Court rules trans women not ‘women’ in law
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The news: Britain’s Supreme Court has ruled that the legal definition of “woman” under the Equality Act 2010 refers to a “biological woman and biological sex,” excluding transgender women, even those with Gender Recognition Certificates.
The judges in the landmark ruling said interpreting “sex” as certificated sex would “cut across the definitions of ‘man’ and ‘woman’... in an incoherent way.” They ruled that the Act’s provisions “can only be interpreted by reference to biological sex.”
The court said trans people remain protected against discrimination and harassment under the Equality Act’s provision for “gender reassignment,” rather than under the protected characteristic of sex.
The court said transgender women could be excluded from same-sex spaces such as changing rooms if “proportionate.”
The context: The unanimous ruling came after activist group For Women Scotland challenged Scottish government guidance allowing trans women to be counted in quotas for women on public boards.
It comes as US President Donald Trump, who made the issue central to his re-election campaign, is disbanding diversity programs across the country, signed executive orders stating that only two genders are recognised under US policy, and issued another titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” that effectively barred transgender girls and women from participating in women’s sports events in schools and colleges.
Meanwhile, in Australia, people have been able to select “male,” “female” or “X” on official forms since 2013, while Germany that same year passed a law allowing parents to leave a child’s gender blank on birth certificates.
What they said: Reading the judgement, Lord Hodge, deputy president of the Supreme Court, said the ruling “does not cause disadvantage to trans people” because they continue to be protected under the Equality Act’s characteristic of “gender reassignment.”
The UK government said the ruling brings “clarity and confidence,” while the Scottish government accepted the judgment.
Amnesty International said the decision could have “potentially concerning consequences,” though the court “has been clear that trans people are protected... against discrimination and harassment.”
