It’s a big day for women’s rights campaigners, after the Supreme Court this morning backed the biological definition of a woman. After justices unanimously agreed this morning that the terms ‘women’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act refer to biological sex, public and private workplaces alike are trying to figure out exactly what today’s move means for them – including Scotland’s very own NHS Fife.
After nurse Peggie questioned a transgender doctor for using the female changing rooms, she was suspended by the Scottish health board. The move pushed her to bring a landmark tribunal against NHS Fife and Dr Beth Upton for harassment and discrimination and prompting heated discussion about what the Equality Act says about the provision of single-sex spaces. And it would appear that this morning’s judgment has caused bosses at NHS Fife to have a think about their own stance on it all.
This afternoon, a spokesperson for the health board remarked on that:
NHS Fife notes the clarity provided by today’s Supreme Court ruling regarding the legal definition of a woman. We will now take time to carefully consider the judgment and its implications.
How curious. The details of the tribunal have sparked outrage across Scotland after it emerged that Peggie could herself face dismissal over the whole thing – after being accused of having ‘misgendered’ Dr Upton by using male pronouns when talking to and about the junior doctor. You couldn’t make it up…
As Helen Joyce noted in today’s Spectator TV, today’s development has ‘simplified [an] overly complex’ law – with the ruling meaning that in these types of cases ‘we can go back to people who said that self-ID was the law and say to them “you’ve really got this wrong”.’ The tribunal has been adjourned until July. Stay tuned…
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