Britain’s Supreme Court gave a big ruling on Wednesday that could change how sex-based rights are seen in the UK. The court said the word “woman” in the Equality Act 2010 means a person’s biological sex at birth, not their chosen gender.
Five senior judges were listening to the case. The decision was taken anonymously. The ruling supports the Scottish group For Women Scotland (FWS), which had filed the case. The group believes that only people born female should be counted as women under the law.
This decision was a setback for people who think that changing gender legally should give trans women the same rights as women born female. But the court also said that transgender people are still protected from unfair treatment under other parts of the Equality Act.
Aidan O’Neill KC, who represented FWS in the appeal urged the court to take in consideration “the facts of biological reality rather than the fantasies of legal fiction.”
LGBTQ+ groups have warned that this ruling could stop trans women from using many women-only services. This could affect access to places like women’s shelters.
This case has been a long legal fight between the Scottish Government and FWS. The main question was: who can be legally called a “woman” under the Equality Act 2010?
The Equality Act protects people from discrimination based on sex and gender. It defines a woman as a “female of any age.” The Scottish Government believed that if a person has a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) and identifies as a woman, they should also be counted as a woman under the law.
But FWS strongly disagreed. The group believes that only biological sex matters, not gender identity. They argued that trans women should not get the same legal protections as women born female.
The case began in 2018. FWS challenged a Scottish law that aimed to increase the number of women in public jobs. The law also included trans women with a GRC, which FWS opposed.
A Gender Recognition Certificate was introduced under the Gender Recognition Act 2004. It allows people to change their gender legally and be recognised as a man or woman.
But now, the Supreme Court has ruled that under the Equality Act, the word “woman” only applies to those born female.
