SAO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS)-The British Supreme Court determined on Wednesday (16) that the legal definition of being a woman should be based on biological sex, not gender identity, in a decision that can have profound impacts on the rights of trans women (which do not identify with the genre awarded at birth) in the United Kingdom.
“The unanimous decision of this Court is that the terms women and gender, in the law of equality of 2010, refer to a biological woman and a biological sex,” said Supreme Court Vice President Patrick Hodge.
With this, trans women who have a gender recognition certificate can be excluded from exclusive services for women, such as shelters, wards and sports centers.
“This is a deeply worrying decision for human rights and a hard blow against some of the most marginalized people in our society,” said Maggie Chapman of the Scottish Green Party. “It can eliminate important protections and will leave many people trans -and their loved ones – deeply anxious and concerned about the impacts on their lives and what will follow.”
The Supreme Court, however, said transgender people remain protected by law. “These protections include not only the protected characteristic of gender change, but also direct, indirect discrimination and harassment related to the acquired genre,” the court said.
Trans rights have become a highly politicized issue, with sectors of the conservative right instrumentalizing the so -called identity guidelines to attack social minorities, while arguing that liberal support for trans people would be violating the rights of biological women.
The British government said the Supreme Court’s decision would bring clarity to hospitals, shelters and sports clubs. “Exclusive spaces for men and women are protected by law and will always be protected by this management,” said a spokesman.
Legal experts have pointed out that equality legislation may need to be reviewed to ensure that the rights of trans persons are fully guaranteed.
The judgment of this Wednesday focused on the interpretation of the British Equality Law of 2010. For the Scottish government, the text was clear: if a trans woman obtains a certificate of gender recognition after her transition, she should be considered a woman and access the same protections as cisgender women.
Almost 8,500 people have obtained this certificate in the UK since the system was created in 2004, according to Scottish government data. However, the For Women Scotland (FWS) association presented a contestation in 2018, arguing that these protections should only apply to people designated as women at birth.
Dozens of Association activists received the decision with applause. “We thought the rights of women would be revoked, and today the judges said what we always believe: women are protected by their biological sex,” said Susan Smith, the group’s codirer.
The organization received support, among others, from the author of the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling, who lives in Scotland and made numerous transphobic statements on the subject.
LGBTQIA+ Defense Groups fear trans women from being prevented from accessing places such as women’s reception centers. In addition, they fear that excluding them can lead to an increase in discrimination, especially in the job market.
British conservatives, who lost the 2024 legislative elections, had promised, in case of victory, to present changes in the law to limit the definition of sex to biological sex.
The subject has always been particularly sensitive in Scotland. In 2022, the local government approved a law to facilitate gender change without the need for medical report, from the age of 16 -the norm, however, was blocked by the conservative government in London.
In January 2023, Scottish authorities also announced the suspension of the transfer of transgender detainees with a history of violence against women to female arrests after two cases that generated strong repercussions in public opinion.
