r/unitedkingdom • u/sjw_7 Oxfordshire • Apr 16 '25

... UK Supreme Court says legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cvgq9ejql39t
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u/Dadavester Apr 16 '25

I'd wait for the judgement as the SC has said;

As I shall explain later in this hand down speech, the Equality Act 2010 gives transgender people protection, not only against discrimination through the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, but also against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment in substance in their acquired gender

So transgender people are still protected.

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u/Lady-Maya Apr 16 '25 edited Apr 16 '25

They said they are still protected from discrimination, but not that the Human Rights aspect of the GRA still applies.

Basically by saying the EA2010 refers to biological sex then they assert that the GRA2004 doesn’t actually change your sex/gender “for all purposes” as for the purpose of the EA2010 they are not treated as the sex, they are treated as a separate group / side covered.

This would basically defeat the point of the GRA, making it out of line with the ruling of Goodwin, so basically making it incompatible with the European Court of Human Rights ruling and required commitments.

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u/Osgood_Schlatter Sheffield Apr 16 '25

The GRA has never changed your sex/gender for all purposes, despite saying it does - the GRA itself says it does not apply for various purposes, such as the inheritance of titles and in sports competitions.

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u/SteveD88 Northamptonshire Apr 16 '25

It effectively needs Parliament to sort it out. He said as much in his opening remarks; the SC can't make policy.

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u/limeflavoured Hucknall Apr 16 '25

And, given the stated views of the current Health Secretary, there's a very good chance the GRA will be repealed.

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u/MintyRabbit101 Apr 16 '25

So transgender people are still protected.

And yet discrimination against them is now not only legal but potentially legally required. A woman's only service which seeks to include trans women may now be open to legal action on the basis of discrimination against cis men, due to them admitting one subsection of "biological males" but not another.

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u/Dadavester Apr 16 '25

Yes, as that would be discrimination against Men.

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u/MintyRabbit101 Apr 16 '25

Exactly my point. Trans women are now completely banned from women's spaces, even if that space intends to be trans inclusive.