UK Supreme Court rolls back trans rights

Scottish Trans is shocked and disappointed to see the UK Supreme Court decision in the case of For Women Scotland Ltd v Scottish Ministers. This decision undercuts the central purpose of the Gender Recognition Act – to provide a legal route for trans men and women to be recognised for who they really are. 

We note that the Court took interventions from a number of organisations that have campaigned to restrict trans people’s rights, but refused to hear from a single trans person, in a case that is all about trans people. We think their judgement reflects the fact that trans people’s voices were totally missing. 

The Court appear to have prioritised a nit-picking approach to their interpretation of the exact wording of the legislation, over what was the clear intention of Government and Parliament in passing it. The UK Government stated clearly back in 2004 that the Gender Recognition Act was intended to change a person’s legal sex for the purposes of equality law. 

The Gender Recognition Act came into being as a result of a European Court of Human Rights ruling more than 20 years ago that required the UK to establish a legal route to gender recognition. Legal gender recognition is a widely-recognised right supported by the UN and international human rights law.  This judgement appears to have limited the scope of gender recognition so that trans people’s gender will no longer be recognised in many circumstances. No-one should celebrate a decision that takes a group of people’s human rights away.  

Vic Valentine, Manager of Scottish Trans, said: 

“We are really shocked by today’s Supreme Court decision – which reverses twenty years of understanding on how the law recognises trans men and women with Gender Recognition Certificates. 

The judgement seems to have totally missed what matters to trans people – that we are able to live our lives, and be recognised, in line with who we truly are.  

Trans people need to be able to recover on hospital wards, use toilets, go swimming and access services just like anyone else.  This judgement seems to suggest that there will be times where trans people can be excluded from both men’s and women’s spaces and services. It is hard to understand where we would then be expected to go – or how this decision is compatible with a society that is fair and equal for everybody. 

We will continue working for a world in which trans people can get on with our lives with privacy, dignity and safety. That is something that we all deserve.” 

Notes for editors   

1. 1. Equality Network was founded in 1997, and has worked since then to promote lesbian, gay, bi, trans and intersex equality and human rights in the law, institutions and society of Scotland. Scottish Trans is a project of the Equality Network: https://www.equality-network.org/ https://www.scottishtrans.org/

For more information, contact:   

Vic Valentine, vic@equality-network.org or Erin Lux, erin@equality-network.org