Foreword by Rosie Duffield MP
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling that the definition of a woman refers to ‘a biological woman and biological sex’ was a victory for feminism. It is a vindication of the campaigners who refused to stay silent in the face of relentless threats and abuse, often at the cost of their own livelihoods. Yet the struggle for women’s sex-based rights is far from over.
Policy Exchange’s authoritative Biology Matters compendium catalogues, amongst other things, the many organisations – in the public, private and charitable sector – who appear determined to obfuscate, equivocate or in some cases outright defy the Supreme Court’s judgement. How many more will simply stay silent and allow local activists to continue to run the show? Government Ministers must lead from the top to ensure public bodies comply with the law: ultimately, this is their responsibility, not one where they can simply leave it to the Supreme Court or the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Some of those reporting on the Supreme Court case appear to have overlooked the fact that the Court did not create a new law – it simply clarified what the law has always been. The word ‘woman’ in the Equality Act has always meant a biological woman. Those organisations which have suggested otherwise have always been mistaken.
Employers need to think more carefully about who they have been listening to, what their motives are – and how much listening to such advice is likely to cost them. High paid public sector leaders and corporate CEOs need to take responsibility for ensuring their organisations comply with the law, rather than effectively outsourcing such decisions to activist staff networks and external lobby groups such as Stonewall.
And what of the many women who have been censured; put through disciplinary procedures; no-platformed; or even fired for asserting what the Supreme Court has now confirmed is the law of the land? How many of them will receive apologies – or compensation? For too many of them, the battles to protect their basic rights are far from over. Radical positions on gender identity have become deeply embedded and it will be the work of years to rectify it.
Since I co-launched Policy Exchange’s Biology Matters programme in 2022, it has been the only full-spectrum think-tank to systematically provide a documentary record of the adoption of policies and practices based on self-identification of ‘gender identity’ across the UK public sector, charitable sector and wider society. I was pleased to work with them again in 2023, when we exposed for the first time the extent to which schools were socially transitioning vulnerable children without informing their parents.
Much has changed since then – and the Supreme Court’s decision is an important milestone. Where individuals or organisations, such as the Football Association, are willing to use this moment to step up and protect women’s rights, this should be welcomed. But there should be no illusions that this is over: there will be many more battles to fight before women’s sex-based rights are secure.
This is a very long article with lots of details and examples (some already discussed on here) https://policyexchange.org.uk/publication/biology-matters-project-compendium-5th-edition/