Today in Focus The UK supreme court and the definition of a woman
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Apr 23, 2025 
Libby Brooks, Scotland correspondent for The Guardian, and Ellie Gomisall, a trans rights activist with the Green Scottish Party, delve into a controversial UK Supreme Court ruling defining 'woman' based on biological attributes. They discuss the ruling's implications for single-sex spaces, the ongoing debates between women’s rights and trans rights, and the challenges faced by organizations like RISE that support domestic abuse survivors. The conversation sheds light on societal tensions regarding gender identity and highlights the complexities of advocacy and legal interpretations in this evolving landscape.
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Legal Definition of Woman Clarified
- The UK Supreme Court ruled that legal definitions of 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer strictly to biological sex at birth.
- This decision overturns prior interpretations that included transgender women with gender recognition certificates as legal women.
Origin of Four Women Scotland
- Four Women Scotland began as a campaign concerned about erosion of women's rights due to gender recognition reform.
- This group, supported by J.K. Rowling, challenged Scottish government law including trans women in gender balance efforts.
Ruling upends decades of legal interpretation
- The ruling definitively excludes trans women with gender recognition certificates from the legal definition of woman under the Equality Act.
- This upends decades of prior interpretations that legally recognized these trans women as women for discrimination protections.