A UK court has ruled that individuals with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) identifying as female do not fall under the legal definition of a ‘woman’ in the context of the Equality Act 2010. The 88-page decision challenges guidance previously issued by the Scottish government, which interpreted ‘woman’ to include trans women with a GRC.
As the court decided, the Equality Act treats ‘gender reassignment’ and ‘sex’ as distinct and separate protected characteristics. “The definition of sex under the Equality Act makes clear that the concept of sex is binary, a person is either a woman or a man,” the ruling states.
The judgement went as further as saying that interpreting ‘sex’ as a person’s legally certified gender would “would cut across the definitions of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ and thus the protected characteristic of sex in an incoherent way.”
While affirming a strictly biological understanding of sex under the Act, the judges pointed out that this interpretation “does not cause disadvantage to trans people, with or without a GRC.”
The court walso made clear that the ruling should not be read as discriminatory toward the transgender community. “Nothing in the ruling is intended to discourage the appointment of trans people to public boards or to minimise the importance of addressing their under-representation,” the decision stated.
