UK Supreme Court Rules That Transwomen Are Not Real Women
The United Kingdom has shown a rare semblance of sanity—and perhaps even a spine. Their Supreme Court ruled that ‘transwomen’ cannot legally be considered real women.
Well—kind of. Sure, the UK Supreme Court is now willing to admit that a man isn’t a woman. But they’re still protecting the right of men to be recognized as a woman. Which likely means they’ll still be allowed into women-only spaces. So it begs the question: do “women-only” spaces even exist anymore?
It took three extraordinary, tenacious Scottish women with an army behind them to get this case heard by the Supreme Court and, in winning, they’ve protected the rights of women and girls across the UK. @ForWomenScot, I’m so proud to know you 🏴💜🏴💚🏴🤍🏴 https://t.co/JEvcScVVGS
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 16, 2025
You might wonder why I’m covering a UK Supreme Court ruling on An Americanist. Simple—because what’s happening over there is a warning for us. The UK’s been at the forefront of pushing gender ideology, and now they’re starting to hit the brakes. While we Americans have been waking up to this madness, we’re not exactly moving at lightning speed.
Before we get into the UK’s Supreme Court ruling, let’s take a quick look at how the United Kingdom went off the rails on gender ideology.
How the UK Lost the Plot on Trans Ideology
In recent years, the UK has slid deeper into confusion over gender identity. Activism took priority, and biological reality got shoved aside.
Major institutions—like the National Health Service and the school system—caved to political pressure. NHS guidelines in some areas claimed kids as young as three might be transgender. Schools pushed teachers to affirm kids’ chosen genders without telling parents. Boys who said they were girls were allowed in girls’ bathrooms and on girls’ sports teams.
Does the above paragraph sound familiar, dear Americans?
Let’s Continue
The now-closed Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service became ground zero for controversy. Despite mounting concerns from whistleblowers and detransitioners, the clinic pushed ahead with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors. It wasn’t until a government-commissioned report—the Cass Review—confirmed what many had been warning for years: that the clinic was operating on shockingly thin evidence. The Tavistock was ordered to shut down in 2022, with the report highlighting that young people were being treated with life-altering drugs without adequate psychological support or long-term research.
Meanwhile, activists infiltrated politics and policing. Women who questioned trans ideology—such as author J.K. Rowling—faced harassment, threats, and attempts at professional cancellation. Police forces spent resources tracking down people for “hate speech” over social media posts that referred to males as males.
And while J.K. Rowling has been a strong advocate for women, I’d be remiss not to mention Kellie-Jay Keen. She’s been on the front lines since 2018—doing the real, on-the-ground work to hold the line for women everywhere.
Here she is on the recent ruling:
But What Does This New Ruling Mean?
Now, I’m no attorney—and I’m certainly not an expert on UK law—but from the bit of research I did do, here’s what I’ve gathered:
The Case
The ruling came in response to a legal challenge involving women-only political party spaces—specifically, whether a political party that excludes trans-identifying males from female-only roles is committing unlawful discrimination.
The Decision
The Supreme Court ruled that “transwomen”—biological males— are not legally considered women for the purposes of single-sex exceptions under the Equality Act 2010. This means, legally speaking, a man who identifies as a woman can be treated differently in certain contexts that are protected for biological women, such as political party shortlists or women-only services.
However—Here’s the Catch
The ruling does not roll back so-called “trans rights” or strip legal recognition from trans-identifying individuals. If a man has legally changed his gender via a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) under the Gender Recognition Act 2004, he is still recognized in most legal contexts as female. So:
- Yes, the court says “a man is not a woman” when it comes to specific sex-based rights.
- But men with a GRC are still legally women in many other areas of law.
This means:
- A biological male who identifies as a woman could still access women’s spaces (like prisons, changing rooms, or shelters), depending on the interpretation of other laws and policies.
- Organizations are still in a legal gray zone, often fearing discrimination lawsuits if they exclude trans-identifying males—even when safety or privacy is at stake.
In Plain Terms
The court affirmed biological reality in narrow terms, but the broader system still affirms gender identity in practice. So while it’s a step toward restoring common sense, the door to women’s spaces is still wide open in many areas—and will stay that way unless lawmakers revise or clarify the Equality Act.
The United Kingdom’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled Wednesday that transgender women do not fit the legal definition of a “woman” — which is reserved for those born biologically female.
The court’s five judges agreed in the landmark ruling that “the terms ‘woman’ and ‘sex’” under the country’s 2010 Equality Act “refer to a biological woman and biological sex,” Justice Patrick Hodge said.
The ruling “does not remove protection from trans people,” who are “protected from discrimination on the ground of gender reassignment,” the court confirmed — however a transgender person with documentation recognizing them as female should not be considered a woman for equality purposes.
What About The United States?
Well, right now, we don’t have a law that clearly defines “woman” in the same way. Our courts, especially after that Bostock ruling in 2020, have leaned toward protecting gender identity under sex discrimination laws. It’s a legal mess. The UK’s ruling won’t change our laws, but it sure puts a spotlight on how far we’ve let things go without even agreeing on basic definitions.
Sidenote: The Bible, the Word of God, clearly tells us there’s a difference between man and woman. But since our government doesn’t officially recognize the Bible as a legal authority, we have to play by the rules of the courts. You know, the whole separation of church and state thing that the Constitution mandates through the First Amendment.
The Bostock v. Clayton County ruling in 2020 was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. In it, the Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination “because of sex,” also protects people from being fired or discriminated against for being gay or transgender.
The Bostock ruling was technically about jobs—it said you can’t fire someone just for being gay or transgender. But once the court said that “sex” includes gender identity, that interpretation started to creep into everything else: schools, sports, healthcare, prisons, and bathrooms.
What Does That Mean?
So now, if a man identifies as a woman, some institutions feel legally pressured to treat him as a woman—even if that means putting him on a girls’ sports team or housing him in a women’s prison. Why? Because they’re afraid of being sued for “discrimination.”
The ruling didn’t directly create laws for all these situations, but it cracked the door open. And since Congress hasn’t stepped in to clearly define what “woman” and “man” mean in law, courts and agencies have been filling in the blanks with gender ideology.
In the U.S., some lawmakers have tried to bring back common sense with legislation like the Women’s Bill of Rights, introduced by Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith and Rep. Debbie Lesko. It aims to define “woman” based on biological sex—pretty basic stuff, like saying a woman is someone with the reproductive system to produce ova. Radical, right? It also calls for protecting single-sex spaces like bathrooms and prisons. Of course, it hasn’t gone anywhere in Congress, but at least someone’s trying to say the quiet part out loud: biology still matters.
Feature Image: Created in Canva Pro
Meet the voice behind An Americanist, Carol Marks
Thinking about all of this just wears me out! There is man, and there is woman. Period.