Rishi Sunak has been urged to change the law to protect biological women after a Scottish court appeared to widen the definition of “woman”.
The Court of Session in Edinburgh decided on Wednesday that the legal definition of woman is “not limited to biological or birth sex”, and includes those who have a gender recognition certificate (GRC) .
Gender-critical campaigners, who emphasise the importance of biological sex, said this could make it harder to stop biological men entering female-only spaces such as changing rooms, as long as they have a GRC.
In a joint letter to the Prime Minister and Kemi Badenoch, equalities minister, the groups said: “Politicians say they know what a woman is.
“But these are cheap words when those politicians do not step up and protect women’s rights, and the clarity of language, rules and laws that are needed to defend those rights.”
The letter said: “The court declared that in the law about sex discrimination and single-sex services, the terms ‘man’ and ‘woman’ do not mean actual sex, but only whether a person has a certificate declaring them to be male or female.
“Being a pregnant woman is no bar to getting a certificate as a ‘man’ and being a rapist is no barrier to getting a certificate as a ‘woman’.
“It means that a fully intact man who obtains a certificate can apply to join a women’s association such as a self-help group of survivors of sexual violence, or an association of lesbians, and if he is turned away he can sue for discrimination.”
Source: Sunak urged to change law after Scottish court says definition of woman ‘not limited to birth sex’
Shouldn’t this headline read ‘not limited to sex’?