 should be counted as female in quotas on public boards is unlawful, as under the 2010 Equality Act, biological women and trans women are separate groups. However, Ms Crawford said that under the 2004 Gender Recognition Act, which the SNP is currently seeking to amend in Scotland to make it far easier to obtain a GRC, a person born male could become a woman in the eyes of the law and 'share' their legal protections. She rejected claims that the Equality Act had effectively annulled parts of the earlier legislation, meaning GRCs had become 'little more than a symbol'. Ms Crawford also denied that her position would mean that trans men with a GRC would be stripped of rights, for example if they became pregnant, a position that was branded "utterly incoherent" by her opponent. 'I would submit that the petitioner is wrong to argue… that sex is a matter of fact, not of law, and that there is no category of legal sex as distinct from biological sex,' Ms Crawford told the Court of Session. 'My response is that the construction of words in a statute is self-evidently a question of law and not a question of fact.' She acknowleged that a person's biological sex could not change by obtaining a cerificate, but insisted that "as a matter of law" it could be altered. 'A person's acquired gender [if they hold a GRC] results in an acquired sex, for all purposes, therefore a person's sex can as a matter of law change," she said. 'There are no inconsistencies betw){kind=link}
In a controversial judicial review, Nicola Sturgeon’s government is calling on the courts to dismiss a case brought by feminist activists
Claims that human sex is determined at birth and cannot legally change are “wrong”, Nicola Sturgeon’s government has argued in court.
On the second day of a judicial review, Ruth Crawford KC, representing Scottish ministers, said it was “quite clear” that UK legislation allowed a male to become legally female and urged Lady Haldane to dismiss a case brought by feminist activists.
The campaign group For Women Scotland has argued that SNP government guidance stating transgender women with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) should be counted as female in quotas on public boards is unlawful, as under the 2010 Equality Act, biological women and trans women are separate groups.
However, Ms Crawford said that under the 2004 Gender Recognition Act, which the SNP is currently seeking to amend in Scotland to make it far easier to obtain a GRC, a person born male could become a woman in the eyes of the law and “share” their legal protections.