Supreme Court: ‘woman’ refers to biological sex

To the Supreme Court, which has this morning backed the biological definition of a woman. Today a panel of judges unanimously ruled that the terms ‘women’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act refer to biological – and not legal – sex in the landmark case For Women Scotland brought against Scottish ministers. It’s a win for gender critical campaigners who have long argued to protect women’s rights – and a humiliation for John Swinney’s SNP government.

The ruling by justices at the UK’s top court today means that the protected characteristic of sex in the 2010 Equality Act is deemed to refer to biological sex – after longstanding disputes on the matter. The Scottish government had argued that the 2004 Gender Recognition Act meant that transgender people in possession of a gender recognition certification – which allows for the changing of one’s legal sex on official documents – were ‘entitled to the protections’ of their preferred sex under the Act.