Ministers told to act on sex ruling but stubborn Sturgeon refuses to apologise

THE SNP government has been told to it must urgently implement new guidance in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling that the term woman is defined by biological sex.

- By Douglas Dickie

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) issued interim guidance, stating trans women “should not be permitted to use women’s facilities”.

But it also insisted that trans people “should not be put in a position where there are no facilities for them to use”.

It came as Nicola Sturgeon refused to apologise to the women who opposed her government’s gender legislation.

Scottish Tory equalities spokeswoman Tess White said the “much-needed clarity from the EHRC about women-only spaces must be implemented across the public sector immediately”.

Ms White, who will submit an urgent or topical question tomorrow for Scottish Government response this week, said: “This much-needed clarity from the EHRC about women-only spaces must be implemented across the public sector immediately.

“There are no excuses for the SNP Government to dither and delay any further. I am calling on Scottish ministers to respond to this in the chamber at the earliest opportunity.”

The Supreme Court declared the words “woman” and “sex” in the UK-wide Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex.

Excluded

Campaign group For Women Scotland challenged the Scottish Government over guidance on gender balance on public boards, which suggested biological men "identifying" as women could sit as a woman.

The ruling has been interpreted to mean that trans women, who are biologically male but identify as women, can be excluded from women-only spaces such as toilets and changing rooms.