Re: UK Supreme Court: Legal Definition of 'Woman' Excludes Transgenders

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:

London
CNN

The United Kingdom's highest court ruled that the legal definition of "woman"
excludes trans women, in a case with sweeping consequences for how equality
laws are applied.

Britain's Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the definition of a woman in
equality legislation refers to "a biological woman and biological sex",
sparking celebrations outside court among gender-critical campaigners but
warnings it was a worrying development for transgender people.

The case centered on whether trans women with a gender recognition
certificate (GRC) -- which offers legal recognition of someone's female
sex -- are protected from discrimination as a woman under the nation's
Equality Act 2010.

I don't know if this means anything beyond statutory language, as
drafted in 2010, didn't consider transgendered women to be a protected
class. They didn't rule that a statute couldn't define transgendered
women as a protected class as a constitutional matter, acknowledging
that the effect would be discrimination against women.

I have no idea how this work in the UK and the pesky "unwritten
constitution" aspect of English law. There's no agreement as to which
statutes form the basis of the unwritten constitution in common law, and
even if there were, it would differ over time.

From my own observation, it's a matter of political whim of legislation
written by the government and whether there are new restrictions on
liberties that wouldn't have been infringed upon by a prior government.