The supreme court didn’t rule on the definition of ‘a woman’ – this is what its judgment does mean

The media gather outside the supreme court in London as the ruling was announced, 16 April 2025. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

The supreme court, headlines say, has ruled on “the definition of a woman”. Except it hasn’t. As the court says, in paragraph 2 of its judgment: “It is not the role of the court to adjudicate on the arguments in the public domain on the meaning of gender or sex, nor is it to define the meaning of the word ‘woman’ other than when it is used in the provisions of the [Equality Act] 2010.”

So what is the court’s decision actually about? In 2018, the Scottish parliament passed a law encouraging public boards to have 50% representation for women. For Women Scotland, a group that describes itself as “working to protect women’s rights”, asked the court to strike the law down because it included transgender women. There followed a series of legal challenges which eventually made their way to the supreme court.