The British Supreme Court will decide on what a « woman » is – Liberation

A definition that makes debate. The British Supreme Court will decide this Wednesday, April 16 on what defines a woman in the eyes of the law, a highly sensitive decision which could have immediate consequences on transgender women in the United Kingdom. The judges of this court, the highest jurisdiction in the country, will have the last word on this dispute started several years ago in Scotland, when an association was provided in court by arguing that the definition of a woman must be based on biological sex, and not gender.

If justice proves him right, LGBT + associations fear that transgender women can no longer access certain places, including accommodation centers for women. The Supreme Court will render its decision around 11 am French time in London concerning this extremely divisive subject, at the origin of a violent quarrel between defenders of the rights of trans and activists believing that the rights of women are threatened by some of their demands.

At the heart of the dispute that has opposed the Scottish government since 2018, which has been strongly committed to the rights of transgender people in recent years, and an association baptized « for Women Scotland »: the interpretation of the British Equality (Equality Act) of 2010. For the Scottish government, this text is clear. If a transgender woman has obtained a certificate of gender recognition (RCMP) at the end of her transition, she is considered a woman, and is entitled to the same « Protections than those declared women at birth ».

In total, some 8,500 people have obtained a GRC certificate in the United Kingdom since the creation of this system in 2004, the Scottish government said in November. But for its part, the association for Women Scotland is opposed to this interpretation and wants the definition to be based on the biological sex alone. She notably received the support of the author of Harry Potter, JK Rowling, who lives in Scotland and has multiplied the positions on the subject, worth it to be accused of transphobia.

The decision of the Supreme Court could find an echo to the United States. Since his return to the White House in January, Donald Trump targets transgender people By wanting to expel them in particular from the army or restrict the transitional procedures for those under 19. The debate is very virulent in the United Kingdom, where feminist activists like JK Rowling say they are targets of harassment on social networks, while LGBT + associations are concerned about the rights of transgender people.

The conservatives, who lost the legislative elections in the summer of 2024, had committed themselves in the event of a victory to bring « Clarifications » in the law so that the word « sex » is limited to biological sex. In his appeal, introduced before the Supreme Court in November 2024, Women for Scotland also defends the idea that a person’s sex is a « Immuble biological criterion ». After a first victory before the Scottish justice, the association was dismissed twice in 2023.

« The decision of the court will have consequences for non-imitated spaces such as toilets and hospitals »underlined the director of the Trina Budge association. Ruth Crawford, the lawyer for the Scottish government, worried about the risk that transgender women in possession of a RCMP « There are men in the eyes of the law until their death. »

This subject has always been particularly thorny in Scotland. In 2022, the local government had voted a law to facilitate gender change without medical advice from the age of 16. This text had been blocked by the conservative government in London. In January 2023, the Scottish authorities also had to announce the suspension of the transfer of any transgender detainee with history of violence against women to a prison for women, after two cases which had shocked public opinion.