Nicola Sturgeon says a Supreme Court ruling on the 2010 Equality Act’s definition of a woman has been “massively over-interpreted.”
The former Scottish first minister, 54, criticised the “immediate actions” by the Labour government and other institutions after the judgement was handed down in April.
Supreme Court judge Lord Patrick Hodge wrote in a unanimous ruling that the terms “women” and “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act refer to “biological women” and “biological sex” respectively. He clarified that the judgement should not be viewed as a “triumph” of one group over another.
In a statement following the ruling, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said he no longer believes trans women are women and trans men are men, adding that he was “really pleased” with the “clarity” that the judgement had provided.
Speaking at a Saturday (24 May) panel on gender in politics at the How the Light Gets In festival, Sturgeon said: “The judgment, I think, has been massively over-interpreted in terms of some of the immediate reactions to it.”
She argued that the ruling had merely set out “what the law is, there is no gain saying that,” adding that it was the job of politicians to “decide what the law should be or has to be.”
She argued that the “law needs to change” to help support trans people, whose lives she said have been made “almost impossible”.
Nicola Sturgeon says she will ‘always’ support trans community
Using the ruling as justification, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) issued interim guidance for public services that would further exclude trans people from public life.
It issued interim guidance in April which argued that trans people should be excluded from all gendered toilets, including those associated with their birth sex.
A public consultation into proposed changes to the EHRC’s code of practice for service providers, which is ongoing, further suggests that trans people be required to carry legal documents such as passports or Gender Recognition Certificates (GRCs) with them at all times.
During the panel, Sturgeon said that regardless of the law or the government, she will “always be an ally of the trans community.”
She said that, despite the purported goals of so-called ‘Gender-Critical’ groups, which involve “protecting women,” her commitment to trans rights has resulted in “more misogynistic abuse” than she has experienced in her “entire political career.”
“Go figure,” she added.
Her comments come after the UK Supreme Court’s first female appointee and its former president, Baroness Brenda Hale of Richmond, said the ruling has been “misinterpreted” by groups seeking to damage trans rights.
Speaking at the Charleston literary festival during a live panel, Lady Hale said she had been told by experts that there is “no such thing as biological sex,” and that the ruling says “nothing about that.”
While not wanting to “undermine” the Court’s decision, the 80-year-old said there is “nothing in this judgment that says you can’t have gender-neutral loos” while criticising the “binary reaction” to the ruling.
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