In a unanimous opinion today (in For Women Scotland v. Scottish Ministers), a five-justice panel of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled that the Equality Act 2010’s term “woman” and “sex” refer to “a biological woman and biological sex.” That is, a “woman” for purposes of the anti-discrimination statute is “a person who is a biological woman, ie who was at birth of the female sex” (I’m retaining the British ie in lieu of the American i.e.), and the term “biological sex” refers to “the sex of a person at birth.” The Court distinguishes “biological sex” from “certificated sex”; the latter term refers to “the sex attained by the acquisition of a GRC [gender recognition certificate].”
Congrats to For Women Scotland for challenging the contrary position taken by the Scottish Ministers.