Woman Defined Again

On April 16, the UK Supreme Court gave a unanimous verdict that “woman” can be defined by her biological sex alone and not by some assigned or self-as­signed gender category.

The judgment in the For Women Scotland Ltd vs. The Scottish Ministers is bound to evoke contro­versy as “gender ideology” now holds sway in the Western world. But the case is a breakwater in the storm, in a manner of speaking. The case had a complicated legal history and revolved around the use of a legal document—the Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC)—under which someone claiming their gender as female was considered a woman for legal purposes.

The court based its reasoning on carefully reading through a number of British laws, including the Equal­ity Act of 2010, and how sex was applied in these legislations. The court ruled: “As a matter of ordinary language, the provisions relating to sex discrimination can only be interpreted as referring to biological sex. For example, the provisions relating to pregnancy and maternity… are based on the fact of pregnancy and giving birth to a child. As a matter of biology, only biological women can become pregnant. Therefore, these provisions are unworkable unless ‘man’ and ‘woman’ have a biological meaning.”

The judgment was based on legal reasoning. But it is bound to have a far-reaching political effect. In the past one decade, gender ideology has gained ground to the point where even saying that “sex is biologi­cal” has become heresy in the Western world. As a result, “gender minorities,” “intersectionality” and a mishmash of invented categories—none of which correspond to natural, human, concepts—gained traction to the point that ‘normal’ persons became a beleaguered class of individuals. A pushback that was necessary has been delivered.

There is ample room in this world for every gender category to exist independently. But it makes no sense to classify oneself as a man or a woman when one is not that in a biological sense.

biological meaningEquality Act of 2010For Women Scotland Ltd vs. The Scottish Ministersgender issuespregnancywomen