“The terms ‘woman’ and ‘man’ in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex”, says the unanimous ruling. Christians welcome the decision and see it “as a misional moment”.
The UK Supreme Court, / [link]Supreme Court website[/link]
United Kingdom’s highest court has recently unanimously ruled that a woman is defined by biological sex under equality law, ending a long-running legal battle over sex-based rights.
“The unanimous decision of this court is that the terms 'women' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex”, said deputy president of the Supreme Court Patrick Hodge.
“But we counsel against reading this judgment as a triumph for one or more groups in our society at the expense of another, it is not”, he added.
Hodge also stressed that the ruling gives transgender people protection, not only against discrimination through the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, but also against direct discrimination, indirect discrimination and harassment in substance in their acquired gender”.
In 2018, campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS), backed by lsome esbian rights groups, brought a case against the Scottish government guidance that allowed trans women with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) to be included in female quotas on public boards.
They lost the case in 2023 at the Scotland’s Inner House of the Court of Session, but now “the judges have said what we always believed to be the case: that women are protected by their biological sex, that sex is real and that women can now feel safe that services and spaces designated for women are for women”, pointed out Susan Smith, co-director of FWS.
“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”, underlined a UK government spokesperson.
Many UK Christians and Christian groups have welcome the high court ruling that “sets a significant precedent for how equality laws can be applied in practice”, said Christian Action Research and Education (CARE).
“The challenge shifts to the Scottish and British governments, who must ensure that this ruling is effectively implemented, a task that will shape the future of sex-based protections in the UK”, they added.
Christian Concern chief executive, Andrea Williams pointed out that “Supreme Court ruling was not a case of women’s rights defeating trans rights; it was a victory for truth over falsehood”.
However, “this judgment is not enough. It is one thing for a person to deliberately present themselves as if they are a member of the opposite sex. It is another, much more serious, step for our institutions to endorse and promote that lie through official documents, the court system, hospitals and schools”.
For Danny Webster, director of advocacy of the UK Evangelical Alliance (EAUK), “supreme court judgment is not only a victory for common sense, but a knife that cuts through the fog of linguistic gymnastics”.
“One thing that I find astonishing, and surely has to be revisited, is that you can change your gender on a passport or driving license without a GRC, in fact it's one of the pieces of evidence that can support an application for a GRC”, he wote in his X account.
The best description of what's been going on in recent years around sex and gender:
"an era of wilful obscurantism"
And yesterday's supreme court judgment is not only a victory for common sense, but a knife that cuts through the fog of linguistic gymnastics.
— Danny Webster (@danny_webster) April 17, 2025
According to UK director of the EAUK, Peter Lynas, there are “3 things we can learn” from high court ruling.
First, that “the vibe shift is real, I do not think this decision would have been madre 2 or 3 years ago, this is reflective of the continuing in our culture towards things like reality”.
Second, Lynas believed that “there are big implications on guidance for HR policies in lots of businesses and workplaces, but I do not think there are many for our members, most churches have always accepted biological reality”.
That is why the ruling brings “real encouragement” for Christians to rememeber that “biological reality is creational reality, it is accepting the truth of the world around us, the way we have been made in the image of God as male and female”.
The UK director of the EAUK encouraged Christians to “say in their workplace what are the implications of the supreme court ruling for our school, hospital, workplace, and see it as a misional moment”.
What is a woman? The UK Supreme Court has ruled - and it is good news. This video looks at the implications for Christians and wider society. pic.twitter.com/bP27oYT8ne
— Ｐｅｔｅｒ Ｌｙｎａｓ (@peterlynas) April 16, 2025
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