Thank the stars for that. At last, a legal ruling stating nothing short of the flipping obvious – that to be a woman, you have to BE a woman, naturalborn with the XX chromosome. An indisputable, biological reality. Incredible, isn’t it, that we actually needed a court of law to tell us that. If you’re born a man with the XY chromosome, there’s nothing to prevent you dressing like a woman, telling yourself you ARE a woman, living as a woman, and being fully entitled to be treated as a woman, with genuine respect for your identification with the female gender.
But biologically, you’ll still be a man. You’ll still have those XY chromosomes. And unless you opt for surgery, you’ll still have male reproductive organs. It’s thanks to the straight-thinking, straight-talking judges at the Supreme Court that we can now all state these simple, irrefutable facts without fear of being cancelled. I say “now” but most of us already did, and without a shred of prejudice or discrimination towards genuine trans gender women who were born male.
By genuine, I mean those men who sincerely identify as women and have little or no choice in the matter – not those frauds who hijacked the transgender issue for entirely different and nefarious reasons, like the Scottish rapist who after his arrest and conviction conveniently decided he was in fact a woman, and was entitled to be locked up in a women’s prison (a case that ultimately derailed Nicola Sturgeon’s political career after she made the monumental mistake of supporting the absurdity).
So, natural-born women can now confidently and legally reclaim their female-only safe spaces: toilets, changing rooms, hospital wards. Even prison cells.
BUT – and it’s a big but – where does that leave the overwhelming majority of sincere, honest, and utterly unthreatening trans women?
Where are they supposed to go? This ruling, like it or not, leaves them in limbo and I feel very sorry for them. What if a trans woman needs emergency surgery and awakes in a men’s ward? Which WC does she use in a pub or restaurant or office? If she’s trying on a dress in a fashion store, where does she do that?
We mustn’t shrug questions like this off, because the way we answer them will define our levels of consideration and kindness and fundamental humanity.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is rewriting its guidance on these matters as we speak and expects to have it ready by summer.
The line between women’s rights and transgender rights is a finer one than Wednesday’s sensible judgment implies. It must be drawn with tender care.
