Equalities minister says ‘it is time to move forward’ following Supreme Court ruling on biological sex

Equalities minister says 'it is time to move forward' following Supreme Court ruling on biological sexParliamentlive TV

Transcript

00:00This government will continue as before, working to protect single-sex spaces

00:05based on biological sex, now with the added clarity of this ruling. And we

00:11will continue our wider work, with commitment, with compassion, to protect

00:15all of those who need it, right across society. Because, Madam Deputy Speaker,

00:21this is a government that will support the rights of women and trans people,

00:25now and always. This is a government that will support the rights of all people

00:31with protected characteristics, now and always. This is a government that will

00:36support the rights of our most vulnerable, now and always. And on that,

00:41Madam Deputy Speaker, there is no change to announce. Dignity and respect for all,

00:46now and always. But, Madam Deputy Speaker, this is a judgment long in the making. It

00:54began in 2018, when Scottish Ministers issued guidance on the definition of a

00:59woman in the eyes of the Gender Representation on Public Boards Act. That

01:04guidance stated that a woman in that Act bears the same meaning as a woman in the

01:09Equality Act 2010, and included trans women with a gender recognition

01:13certificate. For Women Scotland challenged this guidance, saying that sex in the

01:18Equality Act means biological sex, so that a trans woman with a gender recognition

01:23certificate is a man for the purposes of the Act. The case was appealed to the

01:27Supreme Court, and last week the Court ruled that sex in the Equality Act means

01:32biological sex. This means that a person will be considered as their biological sex for

01:38the purposes of the Equality Act, regardless of whether or not they have a gender recognition

01:43certificate. I know that the women who brought this challenge have not always been treated with

01:48the respect that they deserve. This Government believes in freedom of speech, and we

01:54believe in the fundamental right to protest, but in no way does that extend to

02:00criminal damage. There can be no excuse for defaced statues of feminist icons, no

02:06excuse for threats, no excuse for harassment. Madam Deputy Speaker, such acts seek to drag

02:12down the debate, away from common sense, away from the sensible view held by the majority

02:18of the British public that women need single-sex spaces, that those spaces should be protected,

02:24and that you can protect those spaces while treating trans people with respect as well.

02:30So the certainty that this judgment brings is welcome. And now, Madam Deputy Speaker, it is

02:36time to move forward.