What does Supreme Court ruling on trans women mean for UK sport?

The court ruled that a gender recognition certificate does not change a trans person’s legal sex under the 2010 Equality Act

A number of sports' UK governing bodies have already adopted policies banning athletes born male or who have gone through male puberty from female events. (Getty Images for Nike)

Sports bodies now have “no excuses” for continuing to allow transgender women to compete in female categories after a landmark ruling by the UK’s Supreme Court, a human rights charity has said.

Wednesday’s ruling found that a gender recognition certificate does not change a trans person’s legal sex under the 2010 Equality Act, with Supreme Court judge Lord Hodge insisting the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Act referred to “a biological woman” and “biological sex”.

A number of sports’ UK governing bodies, including athletics, cricket, rugby league and rugby union, have already adopted policies banning athletes born male or who have gone through male puberty from female events.

Some sports, however – including football – still allow trans women to compete against and alongside biological women, provided they meet reduced testosterone levels.

The Football Association recently updated its existing transgender and non-binary inclusion policy which included adding a formal process allowing it to exercise ultimate discretion to refuse or remove eligibility to players on grounds of safety or fairness.

Fiona McAnena, the director of campaigns at Sex Matters, told the PA news agency on Wednesday: “There are now no excuses for sports governing bodies that are still letting trans-identifying men into the women’s category.

“The judges mentioned fairness in sport this morning. The law was always clear that everyone male can be excluded to provide fair, safe sport for women and girls, but some people claimed it was unkind or complicated to do so.

“It’s neither of those: it’s essential for fairness and safety for everyone female.”

The 88-page Supreme Court ruling included a section devoted to the interpretation of Section 195 of the Equality Act, which provides an exemption allowing competitors be excluded from a “gender-affected” sport or activity based on their sex.

The ruling states: “We consider that this provision (Section 195) is, again, plainly predicated on biological sex, and may be unworkable if a certificated sex interpretation is required.”

PA