Home » Supreme Court Ruling on Sex in the Equality Act » Our first thoughts on the potential impacts of the Supreme Court ruling

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Our first thoughts on the potential impacts of the Supreme Court ruling

Last week, the Convener of the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee wrote to our CEO Dr Rebecca Don Kennedy to ask about our response to the UK Supreme Court ruling on the meaning of sex in the Equality Act 2010, and our initial reflections on the implications of the judgment.

We replied on Thursday 24th April. You can read our reply here: https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/equalities-human-rights-and-civil-justice-committee/correspondence/2025/for-women-scotland-v-the-scottish-ministers-from-the-equality-network-and-scottish-trans-24-april-20.pdf

Our reply is very long – which reflects how serious we think the implications of the judgment might be. But one thing we are clear about in our response is that it is still too early to know for sure exactly what the ruling will mean.

Update, Monday 28th April: Following interim guidance on the ruling from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on Friday 25th, we sent this short follow up letter to the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee with our views on the EHRC guidance: https://www.parliament.scot/-/media/files/committees/equalities-human-rights-and-civil-justice-committee/correspondence/2025/for-women-scotland-v-the-scottish-ministers-from-the-equality-network-and-scottish-trans-28-april-20.pdf 

The key points that we cover in our response to the Committee are:

  • The judgment is a clear departure from how the law has been understood to work for decades.
  • There are very different interpretations of the judgment being shared, and it is too soon to know exactly what the effects and impacts of the judgment are.
  • What the ruling means for trans people’s access to single-sex services and spaces is one of the areas where there is a wide range of views of what the judgment means.
  • Some people are saying not very much will change, other people are saying that it will mean that trans people are never able to use services and spaces that align with our gender identity but must use those for our ‘biological sex’.
  • If the interpretation that it will mean that trans people are never able to use services and spaces that align with our gender identity but must use those for our ‘biological sex’ is right – that will have an enormously negative impact on, and cause significant harm to, trans people in Scotland and across Britain.
  • It is hard to see how the UK remains compliant with the decision of the European Court of Human Rights that required that the UK provide legal recognition for trans men and women, which led to the introduction of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
  • The judgment means there will be many people, trans and cis, whose sexual orientations and relationships are now classified completely differently “in law” to how they understand and think of those themselves.

We will keep working hard to share accurate information about the judgment as quickly as we are able to, and to let you know about actions you can take to try to make a difference.

If you are feeling anxious, worried or scared about the judgment or what it might mean, please know that there are organisations that can listen to you and support you. You can reach out to:

LGBT Health & Wellbeing’s helpline – helpline@lgbthealth.org.uk or 0800 464 7000 on Tuesday-Thursday (12-9pm) and Sunday (1-6pm)

LGBT Youth Scotland’s digital support – lgbtyouth.org.uk/get-support/live-chat/ – Monday (4-6pm), Wednesday and Thursday (4-8pm)

Mindline Trans+ – 0300 330 5468

LGBT Switchboard – 0800 0119100

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Scottish Trans is part of the Equality Network

Scottish Trans is the Equality Network project to improve gender identity and gender reassignment equality, rights and inclusion in Scotland. The Equality Network is a leading Scottish lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) equality and human rights charity.

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