UK Supreme Court : Definition of a Woman is Based on Biological Sex and Excludes Transgender People

The UK Supreme Court held that trans women do not fall under the definition of “woman” under Equality Act, 2010, and the terms “woman” and “sex” refer to biological women and biological sex at birth. 

The judgment came in response to a challenge against the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act, 2018, which aimed to include trans women in the 50% female representation quota for public authority boards. 

The court unanimously ruled that trans women with a Gender Recognition Certificate cannot be counted within the legal category of “women” for achieving gender representation targets.

The Court clarified that the ruling does not discourage the appointment of trans individuals to public boards.