Published April 16, 2025 | The Associated Press – Brian Melley, Jill Lawless And Sylvia Hui
The U.K. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a woman is someone born biologically female, excluding transgender people from the legal definition in a long-running dispute between a feminist group and the Scottish government.
Several women’s groups that supported the appeal celebrated outside court and hailed it as a major victory in their effort to protect spaces designated for women. “Everyone knows what sex is and you can’t change it,” said Susan Smith, co-director of For Women Scotland, which brought the case. “It’s common sense, basic common sense and the fact that we have been down a rabbit hole where people have tried to deny science and to deny reality and hopefully this will now see us back to reality.”
The ruling brings some clarity in the U.K. to a controversial issue that has roiled politics as women, parents, LGBTQ+ groups, lawmakers and athletes have debated gender identity rights.
Five judges ruled unanimously that the U.K. Equality Act means trans women can be excluded from some single-sex spaces and groups, such as changing rooms, homeless shelters, swimming areas and medical or counselling services provided only to women. The ruling means that a transgender person with a certificate that recognizes them as female should not be considered a woman for equality purposes. But Justice Patrick Hodge said its ruling “does not remove protection from trans people,” who are “protected from discrimination on the ground of gender reassignment.”
The case stems from a 2018 law passed by the Scottish Parliament stating there should be a 50 per cent female representation on the boards of Scottish public bodies. Transgender women with gender recognition certificates were to be included in meeting the quota.
“Interpreting ‘sex’ as certificated sex would cut across the definitions of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ … and, thus, the protected characteristic of sex in an incoherent way,” Hodge said. “It would create heterogeneous groupings.”
Hannah Ford, an employment lawyer, said that while the judgment will provide clarity, it would be a setback for transgender rights and there would be “an uphill battle” to ensure workplaces are welcoming places for trans people.
“This will be really wounding for the trans community,” Ford told Sky News. Groups that had challenged the Scottish government popped the cork on a bottle of champagne outside the court and sang, “women’s rights are human rights.” “The court has given us the right answer: the protected characteristic of sex — male and female — refers to reality, not to paperwork,” said Maya Forstater of the group Sex Matters. In 2022, an employment tribunal ruled that she had been the victim of discrimination when she lost out on a job after posting gender-critical views online.
nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter.
