Some big waves are happening across the pond and in the U.S. in the fight for transgender rights. This week the United Kingdom’s highest court declared a ruling that defines “woman,” but excludes transwoman. The landmark case was centered around whether or not trans women with a gender recognition certificate (GRC), paperwork that legally recognizes someone’s female sex, are protected from discrimination under the UK’s Equality Act 2010.
However, the nation’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled that “woman” in equity legislation refers to “a biological woman and biological sex” and that “the provisions relating to sex discrimination can only be interpreted as referring to biological sex,” as Lord Patrick Hodge told the court in London, per CNN.
“Interpreting ‘sex’ as certificated sex would cut across the definitions of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ and thus the protected characteristic of sex in an incoherent way,” a summary of the ruling said, which reportedly noted that transgender women could be excluded from same-sex facilities such as changing rooms if “proportionate.”
However, Hodge says that the court’s verdict on the Equality Act 2010 “does not remove protection from trans people with or without a GRC document.” He explained that a trans woman still has the right to claim discrimination because of gender reassignment as she is “perceived to be a woman.”
“This ruling brings clarity and confidence for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs,” a British government spokesperson added. “Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this Government.”
This news comes as the Trump administration’s Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Maine’s Department of Education due to the state’s alleged refusal to comply with President Trump’s ban on transgender athletes in high school sports. Attorney General Pam Bondi accused the state of “discriminating against women by failing to protect women in women’s sports” and told CBS News, “The Department of Justice will not sit by when women are discriminated against in sports. This is about sports, this is also about these young women’s personal safety.”
However, trans communities are now the ones concerned about their safety. Ella Morgan, a British trans advocate, expressed her concerns about how these decisions will impact the futures of transgender women.
“I had a feeling these changes would be implemented in the UK following the US news, I hoped that deep down I would be wrong,” Morgan told CNN. “Today, for the first time, I am scared about walking out of my front door.”
