UK Supreme Court judgement on women and sex in the Equality Act 2010

Today, the UK Supreme Court handed down the following judgement:

“The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex. But we counsel against reading this judgement as a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another, it is not."

The court has ruled that women's rights based on sex do not include trans women. This judgement does not change the legal protections trans people have against discrimination and harassment on the basis of gender reassignment. It also doesn’t mean trans people can or should be regularly excluded from women’s services and spaces. The law - and common sense - still says that trans people should not be excluded without a proportionate and legitimate reason.

It's unclear right now exactly how this judgement might affect trans lives. Trans women could be excluded from equal pay assessments, and there could be implications for service providers and institutions such as rape crisis centres, domestic abuse support services, and sports clubs. There could also be consequences for intersex people who do not fit into the binary categories of biological sex.

However, it is too early to say how service providers and the government will interpret this judgement. Ultimately, people who want to exclude trans women from services and institutions will likely feel empowered to do so, but services and institutions that want to include trans women will not be restricted from including them.

There have been some claims in the press and on social media about widespread exclusion of trans women, or having to show a Gender Recognition Certificate to use women's services or spaces. This is not the case.

We cannot say how this judgement might influence policies and guidance in future, but we can say with certainty that it will not stop trans people from being themselves and living their lives.

The rights of cisgender and transgender women are fundamentally linked, and we know that the majority of people want to work together and help each other. We encourage everyone to look past the despair at this judgement and the divisive responses to it, and to continue to live and work together in solidarity and community.

There’s a lot of fear and uncertainty in the community right now, and we’re feeling it too. If you’d like to talk to someone, please reach out.

• For those over 18, please reach out to our Support Line on 0800 640 8046, via WhatsApp on 07592 650 496 or by email on supportline@genderedintelligence.co.uk.
• For those under 18, please reach out to Mermaids Support Line, (Monday – Friday, 1pm – 8:30pm) on 0808 801 0400.

If you need support over the Bank Holiday Weekend, please see the following services:

• For those over 18, please contact Switchboard LGBT+ (Every day, 10am-10pm) on 08000 119100.
• For those under 18, you can text MERMAIDS to 85258 for 24/7 mental health support from Shout.