LABOUR have welcomed a landmark ruling which declared that women are defined in law by biology.
A UK Government spokesperson said the Supreme Court’s verdict gave “clarity and confidence” to providers of single-sex spaces such as women’s refuges.
Britain’s highest court on Wednesday ruled unanimously that equality laws defined women in biological terms, excluding trans women from sex-based protections in law.
The court shot down the Scottish Government’s arguments that trans women who held a Gender Recognition Certificate should be considered women for all intents and purposes.
Judges sided with campaigners from For Women Scotland, who had argued that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 were defined by biology.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “We have always supported the protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex.
“This ruling brings clarity and confidence, for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs.
“Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this Government.”
The ruling poses a threat to trans people’s rights, according to pro-trans campaigners but was welcomed by gender critical feminists.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission, the body set up to monitor the working of the Equality Act, also welcomed the judgment, saying it addressed issues faced by those seeking to maintain single-sex spaces or lesbians seeking to exclude trans people.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chair of the commission, said: “Today the Supreme Court ruled that a Gender Recognition Certificate does not change a person’s legal sex for the purposes of the Equality Act.
“We are pleased that this judgment addresses several of the difficulties we highlighted in our submission to the court, including the challenges faced by those seeking to maintain single-sex spaces and the rights of same-sex attracted persons to form associations.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: “Saying ‘trans women are women’ was never true in fact, and now isn’t true in law either.
“This is a victory for all of the women who faced personal abuse or lost their jobs for stating the obvious. Women are women and men are men: you cannot change your biological sex.
“The era of Keir Starmer telling us women can have penises has come to an end.”
The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.
