Welcome clarity on the contested issue of women's rights

So, after all that, it turns out that under the Equality Act, a woman is an adult human female.

- Susanna Rustin

A man is an adult human male. The unanimous UK supreme court ruling delivered last Wednesday is a big step towards clearing up the almighty mess created by politicians in Scotland, who got so carried away with promoting transgender rights that they decided transgender women ought to be eligible for seats on public boards on preferential terms that are for women.

This argument was taken apart in a judgment that was as far as possible from the fudge predicted by some. The judges ruled in favour of For Women Scotland, the feminist voluntary organisation that brought the case, that the protected characteristic of “sex” and the terms “man” and “woman” in the Equality Act refer to biology, not gender identity. A gender recognition certification (which formally acknowledges a person’s transition) does not alter their sex in this piece of legislation.

Across 88 pages, the judges explained how any other reading of the act would render it unworkable. They showed that language used in clauses about pregnancy and maternity makes it clear that sex refers to biology. The claim by the inner house of the court of session, Scotland’s highest court, that words could mean different things in sections of the same act was dismissed. Instead, the UK supreme court emphasised “the need for a meaning which is constant and predictable”. People ought to be able to understand the law without a glossary to guide them.