UK Supreme Court issues key ruling on the definition of “women” under existing equality law

London – The Supreme Court of England ruled in a potentially landmark ruling that in a civil rights law called the Equality Act, the term “woman” refers to a person’s biological sexual behavior.

Five judges on the court stressed that their rulings were limited to interpreting the 2010 law as laws related to women, “The court’s ruling on arguments about gender or gender in the public sphere is not the role of the court, nor does it define the meaning of the word “woman”.

What is the comment of the British Supreme Court on the definition of “women”

Monday's ruling was a response to a series of challenges raised by the Scottish Women's Campaign Team (FWS). The organization initially challenged the definition of the term “women” in Scottish legislation in 2018, which sets goals to increase the proportion of women serving in public institutions.

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday said the legislation initially defined the term “woman” as including people who redistribute protected characteristics of gender (i); (ii) living as a woman; and (iii) proposing to accept the gender signing process.

The FWS challenged the definition and subsequent statutory guidance, which set the definition of “women” under the Scottish Act to comply with the UK-wide Equality Act of 2010, which includes people with a certificate of gender recognition. Those GRCs issued by the government allow legal recognition of a person's gender in the UK

However, the FWS appealed further guidance, which ultimately filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court, which ruled on Wednesday that “the term women and gender in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological women and biological gender, but the court stressed that the definition was purely for the purpose of explaining a specific part of the legislation.

“The questions raised by this appeal directly affect women and members of trans communities,” the Supreme Court said. “On the one hand, women have suffered from discrimination from our society historically, and have provided legal protections for discrimination on the grounds of gender since 1975. On the other hand, trans communities are both historically and a vulnerable community that has recently sought to protect that community in that statutory provision.”

“The courts rule on gender or the meaning of gender in the public sphere is not the role of the court, nor is it the meaning of the word “woman” and is not used in the provisions of EA 2010,” the judge said.

The Supreme Court said that under the Equality Act, using a broader definition of “women” could be confusing among people trying to use the law to protect women and trans people from discrimination.

The verdict says: “Gender redistribution and gender are separate foundations for discrimination and inequality.”

It explained that, in the court’s opinion, transgenders with GRC certificates under the “women” category, for the purpose of interpreting the Equality Act, would create two subgroups among those who share protected characteristics of gender redistribution, making transgenders different from those who don’t. owe. ”

Response to the judgment of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

The British Supreme Court's ruling is proposed at the same time as the Trump administration's efforts prohibit Gender care for minors and bar trans people Serving or participating in the U.S. military In women's sports.

The girl from activist Grahame Park told the British Press Service on Monday that the court's decision was “the only common sense decision you can make. Everything else is ironic and shocking for women's rights.”

JK Rowling, who ran for the primacy of biological sexuality, celebrated judgment on social media.

“It took three extraordinary, tenacious Scottish women in the army behind her to hear the Supreme Court's trial, and in the victory they protected the rights of British women and girls.”

LGBTQ+ rights group Stonewall said it will work with partners to understand the impact of Monday’s ruling on transgender people and inform anyone who tries to explain it too broadly.

“Stonewall has had a wide impact on the Supreme Court's ruling today. This will make the trans community and all of us support them very worried.”

“It is important to strongly remind the courts and to clearly reaffirm the Equality Act to protect all transgenders from discrimination based on gender redistribution and will continue to do so,” Blake said.

“We are shocked by the Supreme Court’s ruling today, which reverses two decades of understanding of how law recognizes trans men and women with gender recognition certificates,” rights group Scottish Transgender Transnational said in a statement. “Judgement seems to have completely missed what’s important to trans people – we are able to live our lives as we are and be recognized.”