An activist holds a placard reading "Women are born, not some bloke with a form" during a protest in Parliament Square across the Supreme Court in London on April 16, 2025 ahead of a ruling on how to define a 'woman'. Henry Nicholls, AFP

An activist holds a placard reading "Women are born, not some bloke with a form" during a protest in Parliament Square across the Supreme Court in London on April 16, 2025 ahead of a ruling on how to define a 'woman'. Britain's highest court will hand down a landmark ruling on the definition of a "woman", weighing in on a long-running, divisive debate about biological sex versus gender identity. The Supreme Court ruling could have widespread implications for sex-based rights across the UK -- including access to single-sex spaces for transgender women. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)

trans rights

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1744816045170AFP__20250416__42GL8WC__v2__HighRes__TopshotBritainScotlandWomenGenderCourtDiscrimin.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="An activist holds a placard reading &quot;Women are born, not some bloke with a form&quot; during a protest in Parliament Square across the Supreme Court in London on April 16, 2025 ahead of a ruling on how to define a &#x27;woman&#x27;. Henry Nicholls, AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">An activist holds a placard reading &quot;Women are born, not some bloke with a form&quot; during a protest in Parliament Square across the Supreme Court in London on April 16, 2025 ahead of a ruling on how to define a &#x27;woman&#x27;. <em>Henry Nicholls, AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>LONDON, United Kingdom -- Britain&#x27;s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the legal definition of a &quot;woman&quot; is based on a person&#x27;s sex at birth, a landmark decision with far-reaching implications for the bitter debate over trans rights.</p><p>In a win for Scottish gender-critical campaigners who brought the case to the UK&#x27;s highest court, five London judges unanimously ruled that &quot;the terms &#x27;woman&#x27; and &#x27;sex&#x27; in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman, and biological sex&quot;.</p><p>However, the act also &quot;gives transgender people protection&quot; against discrimination in their acquired gender, Justice Patrick Hodge said in handing down the verdict.</p><p>The UK government welcomed the ruling for bringing &quot;clarity&quot; to the debate.</p><p>It is the culmination of a years-long battle between the Scottish government and the campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS) -- which launched an appeal to the Supreme Court after losing pleas in Scottish courts over an obscure legislation aimed at hiring more women in public-sector bodies.</p><p>Dozens of FWS and other gender-critical campaigners, who argue that biological sex cannot be changed, cheered the ruling, hugging and crying outside the court.</p><p>&quot;This has been a really, really long ride,&quot; said Susan Smith, co-director of For Women Scotland.</p><p>&quot;Today, the judges have said what we always believed to be the case: that women are protected by their biological sex,&quot; she said. &quot;Women can now feel safe that services and spaces designated for women are for women&quot;.</p><p>The Scottish government said it accepts the verdict and would focus on &quot;protecting the rights of all&quot;.</p><p>Trans rights activists had raised concerns that a ruling in favor of FWS could risk discrimination against trans people in their chosen gender.</p><p>&quot;The court is well aware of the strength of feeling on all sides which lies behind this appeal,&quot; Hodge said.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/2/27/us-to-remove-trans-troops-from-military-unless-they-obtain-waiver-1323">READ: US to remove trans troops from military unless they obtain waiver</a></div><div><strong>- Single-sex spaces -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/odNZ1kFw6po?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Scottish Greens activist and trans woman Ellie Gomersall, 25, told Sky News the ruling was &quot;yet another attack on the rights of trans people to live our lives in peace&quot;.</p><p>But &quot;Harry Potter&quot; author JK Rowling, one of the most prominent supporters of gender-critical campaigns, praised the &quot;three tenacious Scottish women with an army behind them&quot; who refused to drop the case.</p><p>&quot;In winning, they&#x27;ve protected the rights of women and girls across the UK,&quot; Rowling, who has been accused of transphobia and become a target of hate, posted on X.</p><p>At the heart of the legal battle were clashing interpretations of the Equality Act.</p><p>While the Scottish government argued that the Equality Act gave trans women with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) the same protections as a biological female, FWS disagreed.</p><p>In its judgement, the Supreme Court ruled that the devolved Scottish government&#x27;s &quot;interpretation is not correct&quot; and that the Equality Act was inconsistent with the 2004 Gender Recognition Act that introduced GRC certificates.</p><p>The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which is responsible for enforcing the Equality Act, said it was &quot;pleased&quot; the ruling addressed complicated issues of maintaining single-sex spaces.</p><p>Single-sex spaces and services including changing rooms, hostels and medical services &quot;will function properly only if sex is interpreted as biological sex&quot;, the judgement said.</p><p>The Labour government said the ruling brought &quot;clarity and confidence for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs&quot;.</p><p>&quot;We have always supported the protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex,&quot; a government spokesperson said.</p><p>Opposition Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch hailed the &quot;victory&quot; for FWS.</p><p>&quot;Saying &#x27;trans women are women&#x27; was never true in fact, and now isn&#x27;t true in law either,&quot; Badenoch said.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/2/13/un-expert-hails-trump-ban-on-trans-athletes-in-women-s-sports-1240">READ: UN expert hails Trump ban on trans athletes in women&#x27;s sports</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/3/19/us-federal-judge-suspends-ban-on-transgender-people-in-military-1127">READ: US federal judge suspends ban on transgender people in military</a></div><div><strong>- Under threat -</strong></div><p>LGBTQ charity Stonewall said however that the ruling was &quot;incredibly worrying for the trans community&quot;.</p><p>&quot;Stonewall shares the deep concern at the widespread implications for today&#x27;s ruling,&quot; its chief executive Simon Blake said.</p><p>The ruling also comes at a time when transgender rights are under threat in the United States under President Donald Trump.</p><p>Since retaking office, Trump has declared the federal government will recognise only two sexes, male and female; sought to bar trans athletes from women&#x27;s sports; and curbed treatments for trans children.</p><p>The latest UK ruling could pile pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has remained largely silent on trans issues since coming into power last July, to further clarify legislation.</p><div><strong>-- Clara Lalanne and Akshata Kapoor</strong></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Britain's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the legal definition of a "woman" is based on a person's sex at birth, a landmark decision with far-reaching implications for the bitter debate over trans rights.</p>

Britain's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the legal definition of a "woman" is based on a person's sex at birth, a landmark decision with far-reaching implications for the bitter debate over trans rights.

UK top court rules definition of 'woman' based on sex at birth | ABS-CBN

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UK top court rules definition of 'woman' based on sex at birth

UK top court rules definition of 'woman' based on sex at birth

Agence France-Presse

Published Apr 17, 2025 12:20 AM PHT

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