Supreme court ruling

[mids2019]

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/16/uk-supreme-court-rule-legal-definition-woman

How do we think this is going to pan out? My feeling reading the piece is that the court is going to side with GC women.....hope so but we will see.

Seeing so many happy women rejoice and sing has just been fantastic. Everyone involved deserves this moment.

Unbelievably emotional and grateful to the women who fought so hard for this.

Ive been feeling very lonely banging on about this in my own little sphere for years.

And yet this morning, I’m so far up to five completely unprompted messages from my friends, sister, even my 80yo mum - each with relief or celebration. We’re here, and we matter. Sex Matters, and we can say that now in confidence.

So so happy right now. Incredible news :)
Congratulations to women everywhere, I'm so relieved.
It's going to be a great Easter weekend.
So proud of all the women who fought like dinosaurs hoarding eggs to keep their rights. I hope everyone who fought for this feels so proud of what they have achieved. This is going to be felt around the world.
I think this is going to take a while to sink in for me. This just demolished the whole rotten house of cards of predatory men and I'm so happy.

I think it's a bit more than that to?.

If someone is refused service because they are perceived by a hotel/shop etc to be gay, that is still discrimination on the basis of the protected characteristic of sexual orientation, even if the person is not actually gay.

Similarly, if a trans woman was bullied at work because "women can't be engineers" or something, that would be discrimination on the basis of sex (not gender reassignment) because they are perceived to be female.

The second core provision is section 12 of the EA 2010 which defines the protected characteristic of sexual orientation and is framed by reference to orientation towards persons of the same sex, the opposite sex, or either sex. Read fairly, references to sex in this provision can only mean biological sex. People are not sexually oriented towards those in possession of a certificate.

No shit! How long have we been saying this?

Thank you to all the brave women who stuck their head above the parapet and put themselves on the line to defend our rights. You are all heroines and I want to express my sincere gratitude for your sacrifice. You will go down in history and I applaud you. I will teach all the young women and girls in my family your names : Rowling, Forester, Stock, Man Friday activists, Julie Bindal, Suzanne Moore, Helen Joyce. Courageous women! Thank you for protecting us all.

I wonder whether the Australian Supreme Court will also demonstrate some common sense and overturn the federal court ruling that humans can change sex in the Tickle vs Giggle case.

Ooooh, I hope you're right, especially with Reform breathing down their necks, Labour may start to 'read the room' on this issue. Now to see if the unions can get their collectivised heads out of their collective arses...

Brilliant!!

Does that mean I'm just a woman now. I don't have to be a CIS woman or anything (as I was told by a teenage little upstart).

I'm just a common woman (went without saying).

Huh. Fancy that.

No cocks in changing rooms. Goodness me. Thank COMMON FUCKING SENSE!

I mean, hooray.

I'm supposed to be working but was glued to the ruling and now to the reaction. Tears are still streaming out of relief for my daughters and what this (should) mean for them and with gratitude to all the incredibly brave women, and men, who have fought at personal cost to get us here (and trying not to dwell on the absolutely insanity that meant that fight was even needed)

FFS - Not much of a reverse ferret here.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/16/critics-of-trans-rights-win-uk-supreme-court-case-over-definition-of-woman

It could have far wider ramifications by leading to much greater restrictions on the rights of transgender women to use services and spaces reserved for women, and spark calls for the UK’s laws on gender recognition to be rewritten.

Boo, fucking hoo.

I've been reading the coverage on the BBC's web site, first time in a long time they've said anything I wanted to hear, it's quite emotional catching up with it all.

'There were remarkable scenes inside the Supreme Court after the judges left the bench. Campaigners who had brought this case hugged each other and punched the air. Several of them were in tears.'

Today is a good, good day. 😁

Reddit Scotland are not taking this well.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Scotland/comments/1k0d7oo/supreme_court_to_announce_ruling_on_definition_of/

Lots of anxiety about how this will affect trans men in women's bathrooms now.

I am quite enjoying their obvious discomfort

Reality's a bitch and she wants her toilets back. 😁

I know Catriona. That is just stress!

Yep.

As in it has to be proportionate and not disadvantage / harm other groups.

Thus transwomen can not be housed in places where women have single sex exemptions if it will negatively impact the women's rights to privacy and dignity.

So no sharing of showers. Not placing where vulnerable women might be at risk.

But can't go somewhere where they might be at risk too. Prisons have a duty of care here. So arguably transwomen can't be put into the male estate for that reason. (This differs from a workplace actually I believe because of the duty of care element and unable to leave element is relevant - this also applies to hospitals. So yes transwomen in male toilets / changing facilities in workplace / leisure centre etc where there is not an identifiable threat in the same way and other liabilities are relevant)

I'm thinking back over the last eight or nine years that I've been aware of this dystopian shitshow, from Willoughby preaching that women who don't shave their legs are dirty on Woman's Hour to Madigan ousting Anne Ruzylo as a labour party woman's officer, to emailing successive MPs and filling in endless consultation pages on self-ID, and feeling that we've reached some sort of emotionally satisfying conclusion to this particular epic drama. It's not the end, obviously, and there will no doubt be plenty of sequels, but for now I'm happy to watch the credits roll and marvel at the courage and strength of the women who have made this happen as I reach for the tissues.

Good news, and I'm very relieved. But I can't believe this even had to come to court

It'd be indirect discrimination because it would be something only transwomen would experience. Other men wouldn't.

Thank you so much to FWS, and to FWR posters- we now have a new legal vindication of the rights of women. At last. So much good can come from this. Thank you.

They mentioned it on WH at the start of the programme; thinking it may be in the last segment….

There are some great women there and I am grateful to them whenever I get into a discussion about this as they have helped me form my own idea and express them strongly when aired

I am feeling sick, teary and slightly shaky by this ruling. How the hell has it even come to it that I was so worried it was going to go the other way and men would legally be ruled to be women if they had a certificate to say they were that the relief has had a physical effect? It's only now that I realise the worry I had bubbling under the surface that my DDs would never, ever be able to escape unwanted male attention anywhere as nowhere would be female only. There would literally be no safe space where you could just have an upset stomach/change sanitary products/try to get into an unflattering dress that's turned out to be a bit too small/get changed after an exercise session/be sick in hospital/compete in a sport/talk about your sexual assault without the risk of a man being in your immediate vicinity and with many of them getting their rocks off about it. I am so relieved but slightly in disbelief that our society has got to the stage where it really could have so easily gone the other way.

I want to see the total cost of this to the Scottish taxpayer. I honestly now think devolution has been bad for Scotland - we've got a 1 party muppet state.