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JK Rowling hails victory for women after Supreme Court trans ruling
Susan Smith and Marion Calder, directors of For Women Scotland, celebrate after the Supreme Court ruling Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
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Updated 6 minutes ago 2:34pm Trans women are not legally women, Supreme Court rules 10:44am Labour ‘must respect women’s rights’ after trans ruling 10:30am Sex is binary, Supreme Court declaresTransgender women are not legally women, Britain’s highest court has declared in a landmark ruling hailed as a victory by JK Rowling.
Supreme Court judges unanimously ruled that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act referred to biological sex, not acquired gender.
Wednesday’s judgment was hailed as a victory for common sense by gender-critical campaigners and politicians, with JK Rowling saying it would protect “the rights of women and girls across the UK”.
Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said the ruling meant that the “era of Keir Starmer telling us women can have penises has come to an end”.
It followed a years-long legal battle between campaign group For Women Scotland and the Scottish Government over the definition of a woman.
Lord Hodge told the court: “The unanimous decision of this court is that the definition of the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex.”
In its 88-page ruling, the court added that the “concept of sex is binary” under the Equality Act 2010.


