Scottish Government to Revise Gender Policies Following Supreme Court Defeat

The SNP said it has ‘no plans’ to revive controversial self-ID bill, following ruling that means the government has been misapplying the law around equalities.

Scottish Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville, speaking at Holyrood in Scotland in an undated file photo. Jane Barlow/PA

The Sottish Government has pledged to revise its policies around gender after its Supreme Court defeat over the definition of a woman in last week’s landmark ruling.

But Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville told MSPs on Tuesday she is not able to say when fresh guidance on single-sex spaces will be issued.

The ruling by the UK Supreme Court on April 16 found that the definition of “woman” and “sex” under the 2010 Equality Act refers to biological sex only, meaning that trans-identifying men are not given the legal status of women for the purposes of the act regardless of whether they have a gender recognition certificate (GRC).

Somerville said that the government will amend guidance for the country’s public bodies, including the NHS, but said she would wait to meet with the UK-wide Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) first.

She said the Scottish Government fully accepts the unanimous judgment of the UK’s highest court, which effectively means that the SNP has been misapplying the law around equalities for years in treating trans-identifying people as though they are the opposite sex.

Westminster Blocked Self-ID Bill

Somerville told Holyrood that the SNP had “no plans” to bring back the controversial Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which aimed to allow anyone aged 16 and over to legally change gender without a GRC.

The so-called “self-ID” bill was blocked by Westminster as the law around equalities is not a devolved matter.

“The Scottish Government does, of course, accept the judgment of the Supreme Court,” Somerville said.

“It is a significant legal ruling and it is right that we take time to consider it.”

“It should be clear to all of us in this chamber, regardless of our view on any of those matters, including the judgment last Wednesday, that it has had a very significant impact on people,” she added.

The minister said she would meet with the EHRC alongside Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray, as it aims to give out fresh guidance on the issue in the summer.

She added that because a date for the meeting had not been set, she was not in a position to say when the guidance will be updated across government, “because I think it is very important I hear from the EHRC directly first, rather than just listening to what I have read in the press.”

She said that many trans-identifying people had experienced “real anxiety” in the wake of the ruling, adding, “I want to reassure our trans community that you are valued and the Scottish Government is fully committed to protecting everyone’s rights, and that includes your community.”

Somerville said she attempted to meet with For Women Scotland, who brought the Supreme Court case against the government, but they refused. Campaigners for the group said in response they were only invited at 6 p.m. on the day of the judgment for a meeting the following morning.

Call to Apologise to Women

Following the government statement, the Scottish Conservatives urged the SNP to permanently abandon any plans for “harmful” gender reforms, with party leader Russell Findlay calling on First Minister John Swinney to personally apologise to women.

Susan Smith and Marian Calder, co-directors of For Women Scotland, celebrate their win outside the Supreme Court in London on April 16, 2025. Lucy North/PA

He said: “John Swinney wants to distance himself from it all but as Nicola Sturgeon’s deputy and her strongest ally, he was right behind it.

“Far too much time in taxpayers’ money has been wasted in this already. The country needs to move on.”

Green MSP Defends ‘Appalling’ Remarks

Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman was criticised by the head of the Scottish Faculty of Advocates of making “appalling” comments after she told transgender rights protesters in Aberdeen, “We say not in our name to the bigotry, prejudice, and hatred that we see coming from the Supreme Court.”

In a rare intervention, the dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Roddy Dunlop, KC wrote to Chapman and committee convener Karen Adam, stating: “These are appalling comments to come from any elected politician. They are all the worse when they come from someone who holds the post of deputy convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee.”

Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman in an undated file photo. Jane Barlow/PA

Dunlop said her accusations “create a risk of danger to the members of the court themselves” and said this is “irresponsible and reprehensible” and called on her to resign from the committee.

Chapman told journalists at Holyrood she stands by her comments, saying that the Supreme Court ruling is “being used as a launchpad for a new and aggressive wave of attacks on trans people and their right to live freely as who they are.”

Transgender rights activists at a rally in Edinburgh, Scotland, in an undated file photo. Leslie Martin/PA

Starmer ‘Refused to Answer’

The fallout from the Supreme Court judgment continued at Westminster, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch clashing in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

A Conservative spokesman said: “The prime minister refused to answer three clear questions put to him by the leader of the opposition: when did he change his mind that a trans woman is a woman; will he apologise to Rosie Duffield MP; and will he reappoint Baroness [Kishwer] Falkner as chair of the EHRC.

“Keir Starmer needs to answer these critical questions as soon as possible, or women and girls will fear that they are going to be betrayed by the Labour Party once again.”

Independent MP Rosie Duffield said she had been ostracised by senior members of the party for her so-called “gender critical” views, ultimately leaving Labour last year and criticising Starmer’s management style.

Falkner has chaired the EHRC since 2020, but has been criticised by transgender lobbying organisations and within her own party after she said that women had the right to question gender ideology without fear of abuse, stigmatisation, or loss of employment.

Starmer, who is a former director of public prosecutions, stated in 2022 that “trans women are real women,” but on Tuesday said he would now define a woman as an “adult female,” as he broke his six day silence on the Supreme Court judgment.