Please click here for a useful update from the Equality & Human Rights Commission on the definition of sex following the decision of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers.
The key part of the decision is that in the Equality Act 2010 (the Act), ‘sex’ means biological sex.
This means that, under the Act:
- A ‘woman’ is a biological woman or girl (a person born female)
- A ‘man’ is a biological man or boy (a person born male)
If somebody identifies as trans, they do not change sex for the purposes of the Act, even if they have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).
- A trans woman is a biological man
- A trans man is a biological woman
This judgment has implications for many organisations, including:
- workplaces
- services that are open to the public, such as hospitals, shops, restaurants, leisure facilities, refuges and counselling services
- sporting bodies
- schools
- associations (groups or clubs of more than 25 people which have rules of membership)
In workplaces, it is compulsory to provide sufficient single-sex toilets, as well as sufficient single-sex changing and washing facilities where these facilities are needed.
We will be providing more guidance and discussing this in our upcoming training session which you can book onto here.
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