The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (UK) is hearing arguments in a case attempting to define the word “woman” as it pertains to the Scottish government’s Equality Act.
The court, which is made up of three male justices and two female justices, has agreed to hear the case brought by “For Women Scotland” (FWS), a women’s rights group. FWS filed the case against the Scottish legislature after they passed a law requiring every Scottish public board to be made up of an equal amount of men and women — which is a problem considering the fact that the Scottish government’s definition of “woman” includes men pretending to be women as long as they have a “gender recognition certificate.” Thus, the Equality Act means that a board could be entirely made up of men as long as half of them are pretending to be women.
Lawyer Aidan O’Neill, who is representing FWS, told the Supreme Court justices that “sex” should only be used in this context to refer to biological sex as understood “in ordinary, everyday language.” However, Scotland’s Court of Session ruled in 2022 that for the purpose of supposed “equality,” sex was “not limited to biological or birth sex,” and that it can also refer to so-called “transgender” people with a “gender recognition certificate.”
As the UK Supreme Court hearing gets underway in considering the definition of a woman in a case brought by @ForWomenScot, @HJoyceGender from @SexMattersOrg who is an intervenor discusses the case with @JuliaHB1.#WeKnowWhatAWomanIs pic.twitter.com/xUPDNhv0Ph
— Emily Wilding Davison🏴🇬🇧 (@Wommando) November 26, 2024
O’Neill argued: “Our position is your sex, whether you are a man or a woman or a girl or a boy is determined from conception in utero, even before one’s birth, by one’s body. It is an expression of one’s bodily reality. It is an immutable biological state.”
FWS director Trina Bridge also noted: “Not tying the definition of sex to its ordinary meaning means that public boards could conceivably comprise of 50% men, and 50% men with certificates, yet still lawfully meet the targets for female representation.”
'Gender identity, Aidan O’Neill told the court, “is not a trump card against the rights of women”. And the rights of women, and lesbian women in particular, are ignored by the Scottish government’s position. Women’s rights are human rights, too.'https://t.co/eJCUqKl0fB
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) November 30, 2024
J.K. Rowling, author of “Harry Potter” and strong women’s rights activist, is also a member of FWS and has donated roughly $10,000 to the group. She shared a quote from O’Neill’s arguments during the hearing in a post on X.
“Gender identity, Aidan O’Neill told the court, ‘is not a trump card against the rights of women.’ And the rights of women, and lesbian women in particular, are ignored by the Scottish government’s position. Women’s rights are human rights, too,” Rowling’s post read.
'Gender identity, Aidan O’Neill told the court, “is not a trump card against the rights of women”. And the rights of women, and lesbian women in particular, are ignored by the Scottish government’s position. Women’s rights are human rights, too.'https://t.co/eJCUqKl0fB
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) November 30, 2024
The U.K. Supreme Court is not expected to issue a decision on this matter until late next year.
