Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s former First Minister, is calling out what she sees as a major misunderstanding of a recent UK Supreme Court ruling on the legal definition of a woman. Speaking over the weekend at the How the Light Gets In festival in Hay-on-Wye, Sturgeon said the ruling has been “massively misinterpreted,” and she’s standing firm in her support of the trans community.
“I will always be an ally of the trans community,” she said at the event, according to The Sunday Times. While she acknowledged the Supreme Court’s decision sets out what the law currently is, she made it clear that doesn’t mean lawmakers can’t or shouldn’t work to change it. “It’s the job of politicians to decide what the law should be or has to be,” she said.
Back in April, the UK Supreme Court ruled that under the Equality Act 2010, a “woman” is defined by biological sex. That means transgender women, even if they have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), are not included under that legal definition. This ruling contradicted how many UK public and private institutions had been applying the law for the past 20 years.
Shortly after the ruling, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) issued guidance banning transgender people from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity. Critics came out swinging, calling the guidance “cruel,” “authoritarian,” and “segregationist.”
The fallout didn’t stop there. Trans women were also barred from participating in women’s football and cricket leagues—moves that have sparked fierce public debate and emotional responses across the board.
Sturgeon brought up remarks from Lady Hale, the first female president of the UK Supreme Court, who also said the ruling has been misunderstood. “There is nothing in that judgment that says that you can’t have gender-neutral loos,” Lady Hale pointed out.
Sturgeon echoed that sentiment, saying, “That judgment, I think, has been massively overinterpreted in terms of some of the immediate reactions to it.” She didn’t mince words when addressing the real-world impact of that interpretation. “If it is the case that the judgment means we have to move to a situation where trans lives are almost impossible to live, then I’m sorry but the law has to change because that is not an acceptable way to be.”
She’s faced intense criticism and abuse for her views—something she addressed head-on. “Many of those who are on the other side [of the issue] say it is all about protecting women. Isn’t it ironic that I have probably had more misogynistic abuse as a result of this issue than on any other issue in my entire political career. Go figure.”
Back in 2022, when Sturgeon was still in office, the Scottish Parliament passed the Gender Recognition Reform Act, which would’ve allowed people to self-identify their gender and streamlined the process for obtaining a GRC. But Westminster blocked it from becoming law.
Now, as she prepares to step down at the next Holyrood election, Sturgeon says she has no plans to back away from this fight—even if it’s politically risky.
Not everyone is buying it. Susan Smith of For Women Scotland, the group that brought the case to the Supreme Court after challenging trans inclusion on Scottish public boards, pushed back hard on Sturgeon’s stance. “It would be quite ironic, although not unexpected, if the first female first minister was resolutely sticking to the notion that biological sex is some nebulous concept,” she told The Times. She added, “The most egregious [misrepresentation] has come from trans activists who have spun the most outrageous interpretations.”
For now, the debate shows no signs of slowing down—and neither does Sturgeon.
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