The U.K. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that only people born female are defined as women under Britain’s Equality Act. Photo by Andy Rain/EPA-EFE
April 16 (UPI) — The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled Wednesday that trans women are not legally women under the British Equality Act.
The court ruled that the “meaning of the terms ‘sex,’ ‘man’ and ‘woman’ in the [Equality Act 2010] refer to biological sex, as any other interpretation would render the [Equality Act 2010] incoherent and impracticable to operate.”
It also concluded that someone with a Gender Reassignment Card in the female gender does not come within the definition of a woman under the Equality Act 2010.
The EA 2010 legally protects people in British society from discrimination.
The Scottish campaign group For Women Scotland had filed a lawsuit against the Scottish government, which had argued in court that trans people with a Gender Reassignment Card are entitled to the same sex-based protections as biological women.
The Scottish Parliament had previously decided in 2018 that in its Gender Representation on Public Boards Act, the definition of a woman included people “with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment,” people “living as a woman” and those “proposing to undergo, undergoing, who have undergone a gender reassignment process.”
For Women Scotland, whose website states that it believes “that there are only two sexes, that a person’s sex is not a choice, nor can it be changed,” went to Britian’s Supreme Court in order to solidify a concrete interpretation of the 2010 Equality Act, which would apply across all of the United Kingdom.
The court ruled in their favor, and that “a person with a GRC in the female gender does not come within the definition of a woman under” Britain’s Equality Act, and that “the statutory guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers is incorrect.”
This interpretation of the EA 2010 does not remove protections from trans people, and does say that “trans people are protected from discrimination on the ground of gender reassignment,” and they are also “able to invoke the provisions on direct discrimination and harassment, and indirect discrimination on the basis of sex.”
The court added that “a trans woman can claim sex discrimination because she is perceived to be a woman.”
The result of this decision now means that across Britian, a trans woman can no longer sit on public boards in places officially set aside for women. It could also potentially lead to more in the way of restrictions against trans people when it comes to anything officially reserved for women, and lead to the rewriting of Britian’s laws on gender recognition.