Nicola Sturgeon: Supreme Court judgment risks making trans lives 'unliveable'

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said the consequences of the Supreme Court's ruling that sex in the Equality Act refers to biology could make the lives of transgender people "unliveable".

As the driving force behind the Scottish Government's Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) Bill, which sought to bring in a system of legal self-ID for trans people, there has been keen interest in Sturgeon's response to the recent court ruling.

Speaking to reporters in the Scottish Parliament today, Sturgeon said: "The Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the country, so there's no gainsaying that. 

"The question for me, and I think for a lot of people, is how that is now translated into practice? Can that be done in a way that, of course, protects women but also allows trans people to live their lives with dignity and in a safe and accepted way? I think that remains to be seen. 

"I think some of the early indications would raise concerns in my mind that we are at risk of making the likes of trans people almost unliveable, and I don't think the majority of people in the country would want to see that. It certainly doesn't make a single woman any safer to do that, because the threat to women, as I think we all know, comes from predatory and abusive men."

Feminist group For Women Scotland took the Scottish Government to court, challenging its decision to include trans women under new rules for targets set to drive up women's participation on public boards. 

The matter rested on the definitions of 'woman', 'man' and 'sex' under the UK-wide Equality Act and justices said these terms referred to biology, not socialised concepts of gender.

The ruling does not change the terms of the Equality Act, which includes provisions to exclude trans people from same-sex spaces and services, where proportionate.

This includes lesbian groups, rape crisis centres and hospital wards, for example.

First Minister John Swinney has said his government will respect the ruling.

In an interim update to its guidance, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has said trans people should not be permitted to use facilities intended for the opposite sex in workplaces and services open to the public.

Sturgeon said she would be "very concerned" if that becomes the final guidance and, asked if the UK Government should amend the Equality Act. She said the court's position was "a statement of the law as it stands" and not a "moral judgement", which is instead the role of government.

She said: "I've spent my life campaigning for the protection and the enhancement of women's rights, and I bow to nobody on that, but I also think it's really important that the tiny, tiny number of people who are trans in this country get to live with dignity and in a way that they feel safe and accepted in society for who they are.

"I don't believe, I've never believed, and I never will believe that those two things are inevitably in tension. 

"So the question now is how does the Supreme Court judgment, which is an interpretation of the meaning of one particular act of parliament, the 2010 Equality Act, how does that translate into practice? Can that be done in a way that allows trans people to live their lives?"

She went on: “I don't think it's inevitable that that judgment makes the lives of trans people impossibly difficult, but I think there is a danger that the interpretations that some are putting on that will lead to that. And if that is the case, then yes, it would be my view that the law as it stands needs to be looked at."

Sturgeon said she "fundamentally" disagreed with claims that the views of For Women Scotland and vocal self-ID critic Joanna Cherry, a former SNP MP, were "ignored" during the passage of the GRR bill. 

She said: "The time taken to get to the point of decision on that was probably longer than for any other bill, and different people had their say and then parliament decided on it. 

"I recognise the different views on this, I've always actually recognised the different views on this, but I think it's important that respect runs in both directions. 

"For every woman that I know or who contacts me - and I appreciate that that is not every woman in the country - for every one that contacts me or who I know personally with concerns about this, there are probably another two who have a different view."

The Scottish Government has said it has no plans to bring back the GRR bill, which was blocked by the UK Government.

It has also dropped plans for a misogyny bill, saying there is insufficient time to legislate before the end of this parliamentary session.

Sturgeon said "there would be an irony" if a "court action that was purportedly - and I use that word deliberately - about protecting women ends up seeing a halt to a misogyny bill that is actually about protecting women".