The Government has said that the decision delivers “clarity” on the matter for hospitals and refuges of whether or not a person with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) identifying as female should be treated as a woman under equality law.
While Deputy President of the Supreme Court, Lord Hodge, said the ruling should not be considered a triumph of one group over another, activists for sex-based rights have celebrated the outcome as a victory.
Here, The i paper looks at what that may mean in practice for transgender people.
But under the new ruling a person who was born male but identifies as a woman does not have a right to use a space or service designated as women only.
She said the court ruling means there is now “no confusion” and the NHS “can start to implement the new legal reasoning and produce their exceptions forthwith”.
Care minister Karin Smyth said the “NHS will obviously be complying” along with “every other public body”.
Sports
Many UK sports – including athletics, cycling and triathlon – already bar anyone born male from competitive female events but football still permits trans women to compete alongside and against biological women if they reduce testosterone levels.
Su Wong, from the campaign group Seen in Sport, said: “This applies to all women and girls, not just at elite level, so this should mark the end of ‘two-tier’ sports policies. This ruling means that women will no longer be sanctioned and punished if they raise concerns that there is a male in the female category.”
The ruling clarified that an exemption within the 2010 Equality Act permitting the lawful exclusion of competitors from “gender-affected” sports based on their sex was “plainly predicated on biological sex”.
“If a male person is allowed to use a women-only service or facility, it isn’t any longer single-sex, then it becomes a mixed-sex space,” she told the Today programme.
Asked about the risk that trans people will no longer be allowed to use facilities designed for either male or female people, she added trans rights organisations should push for more neutral third spaces to accommodate trans people.
However, care minister Smyth was unable to say which changing room a transgender woman should use on Thursday.
Asked why it varies, Smyth responded: “Because some will have unisex provisions there might only be one bathroom, one changing room in an organisation. It’s a large complex issue so that’s why people have to be very clear on that guidance.”
Schools and colleges
Jo Moseley, an employment law specialist at the law firm Irwin Mitchell, said that the ruling will make it easier for employers to have clarity on the rules regarding single-sex and separate-sex services.
Legal experts have also said that the ruling will make it easier for companies to advertise roles which are for people of a particular sex when this is a key factor of the role.
“However, the Equality Act 2010 contains exemptions to this general rule: it recognises that, in some situations, employers can, and arguably should, discriminate in favour of a particular group of people both in terms of deciding to whom it is going to provide services and who it engages to work in those services.”
Read Next
square NEWS ExplainedRead More
“Another example is where comments made about her, or her appearance, are linked to her trans status.”
The fact that being transgender is a protected characteristic means that this group should still be protected against harassment or discrimination, which could be deemed unlawful.
Data collection
It is now thought that organisations will now more often opt to collect data on biological sex rather than gender.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( The immediate impact of the gender ruling for trans women — from hospitals to changing rooms )
Also on site :