The highest British court will rule what a « woman » is under the Laws of Equality
The UK’s Supreme Court will come up with a decision on Wednesday for the legal definition of a woman under equality laws. The case can have significant consequences for the debate on transgender rights.
Judges must announce their judgment as to whether a translated with a certificate of recognition of social sex (GRC), an official document that gives legal recognition to someone’s new sex, is protected from discrimination as a woman under the UK equality law.
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The Group for Women in Scotland (FWS) claims that these rights should be applied only on the basis of the biological sex of the person and disputes the instructions issued by the decentralized Scottish government for the implementation of a 2018 law, which is intended to increase the share of women in the boards of the public sector.
- Scottish ministers’ guidelines for this law state that a trance woman with a full GRC is a legal woman. The Scottish government claims that the British Parliament intended to be so under equality legislation.
- Critics say that if implemented, such a definition could only affect the services of women (such as gender) of the type of asylum, hospital wards and sports.
Transsexual activists say that if the court rules in favor of FWS, it could lead to discrimination against those with social -sex recognition certificates, especially on employment issues.
The FWS case was rejected in the Scottish courts, which led to an appeal in the Supreme Court, with both sides expecting the Wednesday decision to be complicated.
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The epochal British case is the last example of a wider debate over transgender rights to end in front of the courts.
Legal appeals are underway in the United States after President Donald Trump has issued a series of executive orders that include a ban on transgender people from serving in the army.
- FWS lawyer Aiden O’Neal told the Supreme Court in November that the argument that the use of a woman and a man in the Law of Equality refers to « certified sex » is « simply wrong » and should be understood in the sense of « ordinary, daily language ».
- However, lawyers representing the Scottish government have said that the guidelines are legal and that Translated with a full certificate of recognition of social sex is a woman according to the law.
- Several human rights organizations have intervened in the call, with the Amnesty International supporting the Scottish government and Lesbian groups like LGB Alliance supporting FWS.
In 2022, Scotland Parliament adopted reforms to facilitate transgender people to legally change their social sex, including eliminating the need for a medical diagnosis of sexual dysphoria and reducing the minimum age of 16 in 18 years.
But the British government in Westminster blocked the law and the Scottish government later rejected the challenge of this decision.
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