Sky News / Screenshot
CV NEWS FEED // The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled April 16 that in the 2010 Equality Act the terms “woman” and “sex” refer to biological reality, not self-proclaimed identity.
The decision resulted from a debate between the Scottish government and a women’s organization regarding whether a man with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) that called him a woman would qualify for women’s legal protections under the 2010 Equality Act, according to Reuters.
A GRC is a certificate by the United Kingdom government that legally “affirms” a person’s gender identity.
For Women Scotland (FWS), an organization dedicated to preserving women’s spaces from men who say they are women, challenged guidance from the Scottish government that men with a GRC were legally considered women. FWS lost its case in the Scottish Court but won the Supreme Court challenge.
“The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms ‘women’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex,” Deputy President of the Supreme Court Patrick Hodge said. “But we counsel against reading this judgment as a triumph for one or more groups in our society at the expense of another — it is not.”
FWS co-director Susan Smith told supporters outside of the court that the ruling provides increased safety for women.
“Today,” she said, “the judges have said what we always believed to be the case: that women are protected by their biological sex, that sex is real and that women can now feel safe that services and spaces designated for women are for women.”
The British Labour government said that the ruling will protect women’s shelters, hospitals, and sports.
“Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this government,” a government spokesperson stated.
British author J.K. Rowling, who has spoken out in favor of women’s rights on the issue, celebrated the decision on X, praising the women who spearheaded the legal challenge.
“It took three extraordinary, tenacious Scottish women with an army behind them to get this case heard by the Supreme Court and, in winning, they’ve protected the rights of women and girls across the UK.”
Alliance Defending Freedom International also celebrated the court’s ruling on X, writing, “Today’s ruling at the UK Supreme Court will have far-reaching implications for protecting women’s dignity and privacy — in bathrooms, crisis shelters, prison cells and elsewhere.”
