By Amah
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The United Kingdom Supreme Court has ruled that transgender women are not recognised as women because they are biologically female.
In a ruling on Wednesday, the court held that a woman is defined based on biological sex and not surgically enhanced gender.
The unanimous decision of the five-member Supreme Court panel led by Lord Hodge ruled that ‘the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act refer to a ‘biological woman and biological sex’.
However, it stated that trans people could legally enjoy protection against discrimination.
The landmark judgement will henceforth shape how sex-based rights apply, and how public spaces and facilities are used by transgender people.
The latest court judgement arise from
a legal issue between the Scottish government and a women’s group.
The group had dragged the government to court to get a definition of who a ‘woman’ really as a result of the Scottish legislation mandating 50 per cent female representation on public boards.
The issue concerned whether a transgender woman with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) can be treated as a woman under the 2010 Equality Act with the Scottish government arguing that transgenders are entitled to sex-based protections, while campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS) argued that the definition of a woman can only apply to someone born biologically born a female.
‘The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological woman and biological sex.’
He said the ruling “does not cause disadvantage to transgender people,” stressing that they have protections under anti-discrimination and equality laws.
