The U.K. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that a woman is a person who is biologically female. The outcome excludes transgender people from the legal definition, and comes after a lengthy legal squabble between For Women Scotland (FWS) and the Scottish government.
The decision was made in response to a legal challenge that FWS filed in 2022 against the definition of the term “woman” in the 2018 Scottish Act of Parliament. This definition included people who have protected characteristics of gender reassignment, people who live as women, and people who are planning to undergo, have undergone, or are currently undergoing gender reassignment in the United Kingdom. The Supreme Court’s website states. Scottish civil courts found the definition to be unlawful as it dealt with matters that fall outside the legislative jurisdiction of the Scottish Parliament. It was updated in 2023.
However, FWS moved to overturn the new definition as it stated that a person with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), recognizing that their gender is female, is considered a woman.
After a spout of contentious back and forth in Scottish courts, FWS appealed to the U.K.’s Supreme Court.On Wednesday, five judges ruled that the U.K. Equality Act meant that trans women can be excluded from some groups and single-sex spaces, including changing rooms, homeless shelters, swimming areas, and medical or counselling services meant only for women.
The court reiterated, however, that the ruling did not strip trans people of their rights, and that they are still legally protected from discrimination in the U.K. However, the ruling states that transgender women do not qualify for certain protections that are provided to biological women. The court said the unanimous decision shouldn’t be seen as a victory by one side, but several women’s groups that supported the appeal celebrated outside the court and hailed it as a major win in their effort to protect spaces designated for women, according to the Associated Press.
“Everyone knows what sex is and you can’t change it,” said Susan Smith, co-director of For Women Scotland.
She went on to say, “It’s common sense, basic common sense, and the fact that people have tried to deny science and reality and that we have been down a rabbit hole, and hopefully this will now see us back to reality.” The ruling brings some clarity in the U.K. to a globally divisive discussion.
In the U.S., Republican states over the last four years have been banning gender-affirming care for minors, barring transgender women and girls from sports competitions that align with their gender, and restricting which public bathrooms transgender people can use.
Transgender people in Canada are protected from discrimination based on gender identity and expression by the Canadian Human Rights Act. Bill C-16 was passed in 2017 and added gender identity and expression to the list of prohibited grounds for discrimination in Canada.
‘Woman’ legally defined as someone biologically female, rules U.K. Supreme Court
