THE SNP Government has delivered its response to the Supreme Court's ruling that sex is biological in UK law.
The Scottish Government said it will amend its guidance on the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act, which sparked last week’s judgment.
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville also said that there was “no plans” to bring back the controversial Scottish gender reforms which are being blocked by the UK Government.
Last Wednesday, the UK’s highest court rejected the Scottish Government’s arguments that the category of “woman” included trans women who held a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). Previously, trans women in Scotland had counted towards female gender representation on public boards.
The 2004 Gender Recognition Act, which introduced GRCs, used the terms sex and gender interchangeably, and said a GRC meant someone "becomes for all purposes the acquired gender".
However, the Supreme Court ruling means that trans people, with or without a GRC, will not be able to access single-sex spaces provided for under the 2010 Equality Act and will not count as women under the 2018 Gender Representation Act.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville addressed the ruling, saying the Government accepted it and was looking at updating its guidance on single-sex spaces.
“The Scottish Government does, of course, accept the judgment of the Supreme Court,” she said.
“It is a significant legal ruling and it is right that we take time to consider it.”
Somerville added that it was “important to recognise the tone and the temperature of the surrounding debate”.
“It should be clear to all of us in this chamber, regardless of our view on any of those matters, including the judgment last Wednesday, that it has had a very significant impact on people,” she added.
Somerville said the ruling had sparked "real anxiety" from trans and non-binary people, adding: "It is significant that the Supreme Court stated that their judgment that the rights of the trans community are enshrined in law and I want to reassure our trans community that you are valued and the Scottish Government is fully committed to protecting everyone’s rights and that includes your community.”
The SNP minister further said the judgment had "confirmed the definition of the woman under the Equality Act", and called for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to issue updated guidance on the impact of the court ruling.
She added: “We are amending guidance on the public boards legislation to take account of the ruling.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said “a woman is an adult female” when pushed on whether he believed a trans woman was a woman following the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The Prime Minister told ITV West Country: “I think the Supreme Court has answered that question.”
Asked if that meant he did not believe a transgender woman is a woman, Starmer said: “A woman is an adult female, and the court has made that absolutely clear."
He was replying to a question from Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, who told the Commons: “Will [Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood] and her ministers confirm that the Government will implement the Supreme Court judgment in full and that they will take personal responsibility for ensuring that it is in every aspect of our justice system, or will they agree with the senior ministers in their own party who now appear to be actively plotting to undermine the Supreme Court’s judgment?”
Dakin said: “We inherited the current policy on transgender within the Prison Service and we have continued the policy that he describes during our period of office.
“And in the light of last week’s Supreme Court ruling, the department is reviewing all areas that could be potentially impacted on.”
