The UK’s Supreme Court has decided that the legal definition of “woman” excludes trans women, in a case with comprehensive consequences for the application of equality laws in the country.
The British Supreme Court unanimously decided that the definition of women in equality legislation refers to “a biological woman and biological sex”.
The court was deciding whether trans women with a certificate of gender recognition (GRC in English) – which offers one’s legal female recognition – are protected from discrimination as women by the country’s 2010 equality law.
A group of activists in Scotland presented the contestation in 2018, arguing that these rights should safeguard only those designated as women at birth.
But the Scottish government stated that a trans woman with a GRC is legally a woman and therefore should receive the same legal protections.
Although the case originated in a debate on Scottish laws designed to increase the number of women in administrative councils, the result of Wednesday (16) shall shape the increasingly fierce and polarized debate over the rights of transgender people throughout the UK.
The Labor Party, in power in the United Kingdom, said the decision brought “clarity”, while opposition conservatives considered it a “clear victory of common sense”, instigating the government to clarify existing guidelines.
Court decision
Five judges have decided for a large majority in favor of the group for Scotland women (FWS), which proposed that it did not link the legal definition of gender to biological sex would have repercussions on specific services for same -sex people, including locker rooms, hostels and community accommodations.
“The terms women and sex in the equality law of 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex,” Judge Patrick Hodge told the court in London. “The provisions related to sexual discrimination can only be interpreted as referring to biological sex,” he added.
If transgender women with a GRC received the same protection feature as biological women under the law of equality, Hodge said, they would “have greater rights than those who do not have them,” citing provisions regarding pregnancy and maternity leave.
The judge insisted that the interpretation of the 2010 equality law “does not remove the protection of trans persons”, with or without a GRC document.
A trans woman could claim discrimination based on gender reassignment and why “she is perceived as a woman,” added the magistrate.
The British government “has always supported the protection of same-sex exclusive spaces based on biological sex,” I say a spokesman after the decision.
“This decision brings clarity and confidence to women and service providers such as hospitals, shelters and sports clubs,” added the spokesman. “EXCLUSIVE SPACES FOR SAME SEXUAL PEOPLE are protected by law and will always be protected by this government.”
This content was originally published in the United Kingdom decides that legal definition of “woman” excludes trans women on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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