Today the Supreme Court ruled that the protected characteristic of sex refers to biological sex, in a decision that is a “landmark for lesbian rights in the UK”.
Our CEO, Kate Barker, described the judgment as a “profound relief”, and said it marks a watershed in the fight for lesbian rights following years of mounting attacks, in particular from proponents of gender identity ideology.
“The ruling confirms that the words ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ refer to same-sex sexual orientation and makes it absolutely clear that lesbians wishing to form associations of any size are lawfully entitled to exclude men – whether or not they possess a GRC.
“It is difficult to express the significance of this ruling: it marks a watershed for women and, in particular, lesbians who have seen their rights and identities undermined over the last decade.
“We pay tribute to For Women Scotland for their bravery and tenacity in pursuing this case and for making it possible for LGB Alliance to intervene.
“We are pleased that the Supreme Court did understand the problem, and its ruling acknowledges that lesbian interests matter. This is a profound relief for us.
“This matters greatly to LGB people. It is especially important to lesbians, because the definition of lesbian is directly linked to the definition of woman. The ruling confirms that the words “gay” and “lesbian” refer to same-sex sexual orientation and makes it absolutely clear that lesbians wishing to form associations of any size are lawfully entitled to exclude men – whether or not they possess a GRC.
“Our decision to intervene in this case was driven, in part, by the seeming inability of the Inner House of the Court of Session, in their 2022 judgment, to comprehend that the rights of lesbians might be an issue here. In relation to the submission by lesbians, regarding the notion of a person’s sexual orientation changing on acquiring a GRC, the Court wrote: ‘We confess that we have not found it easy to follow this particular submission. It is not a necessary inference from Section 9 of the GRA that a person’s sexual orientation changes on acquiring a GRC. There is no such thing as being ‘legally lesbian’ and we have not identified a problem which would require that sex be referable to biology alone.’
“LGB Alliance did identify a problem, and together with the Lesbian Project and Scottish Lesbians, made a submission as the ‘Lesbian Interveners’ that helped to secure this victory.
“When Ruth Crawford KC argued on behalf of the Scottish Government that a heterosexual man with a Gender Recognition Certificate is a woman and so ‘becomes’ a lesbian, the justices were visibly perplexed. It is clear that the idea of a heterosexual man with a GRC being legally entitled to call himself a ‘lesbian’ and to join a lesbian social group – and of actual lesbians being bound, by law, to validate this self-definition – struck them as absurd:
“Karon Monaghan KC, for the Appellant, said, ‘It barely needs stating that lesbians are females who are sexually orientated to the bodies of other females. Again, it barely needs stating that there are anatomical differences between males and females. The defining characteristic of a lesbian is that she is not sexually attracted to male bodies, including penises, testicles, male body mass and shape. Nor is she sexually attracted to certificates…’
“We are pleased that the Supreme Court did understand the problem, and its ruling acknowledges that lesbian interests matter. This is a profound relief for us.
“As Allison Bailey said in her keynote address to LGB Alliance Conference in 2021: ‘Our rights [as LGB people] are not conditional on us accepting gender identity theory.’ She was quite right. Today the Supreme Court has made that clear.”