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Leader Live
2 days ago
- Politics
- Leader Live
Gender critical group threatens legal action over court judgment implementation
Sex Matters, which intervened in the For Women Scotland case against the government, has sent ministers a formal 'letter before action'. In April, the Supreme Court said the words 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex – a ruling which had implications for access to single-sex spaces. Sex Matters argue the Scottish Government is failing to implement the ruling in the public sector, though ministers including John Swinney have said they accept the judgment and are waiting for further guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission before taking the next steps. The letter, seen by the PA news agency, says the government must implement the ruling 'without delay'. It also says the government's guidance in a document called 'Supporting transgender pupils in schools' is 'wrong and must be withdrawn with immediate effect'. The charity's chief executive Maya Forstater spoke to the BBC's Good Morning Scotland radio programme on Wednesday. She said: 'The Supreme Court has made the law absolutely clear: men are male and women are female and both have a right to dignity and privacy in things like toilets and changing rooms as well as specialist services like women's refuges. 'The Scottish Government is dragging its feet, it hasn't changed its policies.' Ms Forstater said the Government had not implemented the ruling in schools or in its own facilities. She said the Government has 14 days to reply to the letter, adding: 'All we're asking them to do is put a simple statement on their website which says that their facilities are separated by sex and they also provide unisex facilities so everyone's included.' A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'The Scottish Government has been clear that we accept the Supreme Court judgment. We are reviewing policies, guidance and legislation potentially impacted by the judgment. 'This will prepare us to take all necessary steps when the regulator of the Equality Act 2010, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, publishes its revised statutory code of practice and associated guidance for services, public functions and associations. 'The EHRC is currently consulting on this revised Code of Practice. 'The Scottish Government's approach is aligned with that of the UK Government and Welsh Government in awaiting the EHRC's revised statutory code of practice. 'We will respond to the letter in due course.'
Rhyl Journal
2 days ago
- Politics
- Rhyl Journal
Gender critical group threatens legal action over court judgment implementation
Sex Matters, which intervened in the For Women Scotland case against the government, has sent ministers a formal 'letter before action'. In April, the Supreme Court said the words 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex – a ruling which had implications for access to single-sex spaces. Sex Matters argue the Scottish Government is failing to implement the ruling in the public sector, though ministers including John Swinney have said they accept the judgment and are waiting for further guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission before taking the next steps. The letter, seen by the PA news agency, says the government must implement the ruling 'without delay'. It also says the government's guidance in a document called 'Supporting transgender pupils in schools' is 'wrong and must be withdrawn with immediate effect'. The charity's chief executive Maya Forstater spoke to the BBC's Good Morning Scotland radio programme on Wednesday. She said: 'The Supreme Court has made the law absolutely clear: men are male and women are female and both have a right to dignity and privacy in things like toilets and changing rooms as well as specialist services like women's refuges. 'The Scottish Government is dragging its feet, it hasn't changed its policies.' Ms Forstater said the Government had not implemented the ruling in schools or in its own facilities. She said the Government has 14 days to reply to the letter, adding: 'All we're asking them to do is put a simple statement on their website which says that their facilities are separated by sex and they also provide unisex facilities so everyone's included.' A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'The Scottish Government has been clear that we accept the Supreme Court judgment. We are reviewing policies, guidance and legislation potentially impacted by the judgment. 'This will prepare us to take all necessary steps when the regulator of the Equality Act 2010, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, publishes its revised statutory code of practice and associated guidance for services, public functions and associations. 'The EHRC is currently consulting on this revised Code of Practice. 'The Scottish Government's approach is aligned with that of the UK Government and Welsh Government in awaiting the EHRC's revised statutory code of practice. 'We will respond to the letter in due course.'
STV News
2 days ago
- Politics
- STV News
Scottish Government threatened with legal action over single-sex spaces
The Scottish Government has been threatened with legal action if it fails to implement the recent Supreme Court judgement on biological sex in equalities law. Sex Matters, which intervened in the For Women Scotland case against the government, has sent ministers a formal 'letter before action'. In April, the Supreme Court said the words 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex – a ruling which had implications for access to single-sex spaces. Sex Matters argue the Scottish Government is failing to implement the ruling in the public sector, though ministers including John Swinney have said they accept the judgment and are waiting for further guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission before taking the next steps. 'It is clear that taking no action at the moment is not a lawful option that is available to the Scottish Government,' the letter said. 'As a bare minimum, the Scottish Government is required – now – to review and amend its practices and policies and guidance to ensure that it is made clear that 'single-sex spaces' means single biological sex spaces. 'A failure to take that step will mean that the Scottish Government is deliberately choosing to act unlawfully.' The letter urges the Scottish Government to comply with the UK Supreme Court ruling from April, which determined that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act refer to biological women and sex. Scottish ministers previously said the judgement will 'inevitably' mean changes to the advice given to public bodies and health boards about single-sex spaces. However, the Scottish Government has been waiting for fresh guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (ECHR) before making any permanent changes. This 'proposed delay' has caused concern for the Sex Matters group. Speaking to BBC's Good Morning Scotland radio programme on Wednesday, the charity's CEO Maya Forstater said: 'The Supreme Court has made the law absolutely clear: men are male and women are female and both have a right to dignity and privacy in things like toilets and changing rooms as well as specialist services like women's refuges. 'The Scottish Government is dragging its feet, it hasn't changed its policies.' Ms Forstater said the government had not implemented the ruling in schools or in its own facilities. She said the government has 14 days to reply to the letter, adding: 'All we're asking them to do is put a simple statement on their website which says that their facilities are separated by sex and they also provide unisex facilities so everyone's included.' In response to Sex Matters' concerns, a spokesman for the government told The Times: 'The Scottish Government has been clear that we accept the Supreme Court judgment. 'We are reviewing policies, guidance and legislation potentially impacted by the judgment. 'This will prepare us to take all necessary steps when the regulator of the Equality Act 2010, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, publishes its revised statutory code of practice and associated guidance for services, public functions and associations. The EHRC is currently consulting on this revised code of practice. 'We will respond to any letter received in due course.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Glasgow Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
Gender critical group threatens legal action over court judgment implementation
Sex Matters, which intervened in the For Women Scotland case against the government, has sent ministers a formal 'letter before action'. In April, the Supreme Court said the words 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex – a ruling which had implications for access to single-sex spaces. Sex Matters argue the Scottish Government is failing to implement the ruling in the public sector, though ministers including John Swinney have said they accept the judgment and are waiting for further guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission before taking the next steps. John Swinney has said he accepts the court's ruling (Andrew Milligan/PA) The letter, seen by the PA news agency, says the government must implement the ruling 'without delay'. It also says the government's guidance in a document called 'Supporting transgender pupils in schools' is 'wrong and must be withdrawn with immediate effect'. The charity's chief executive Maya Forstater spoke to the BBC's Good Morning Scotland radio programme on Wednesday. She said: 'The Supreme Court has made the law absolutely clear: men are male and women are female and both have a right to dignity and privacy in things like toilets and changing rooms as well as specialist services like women's refuges. 'The Scottish Government is dragging its feet, it hasn't changed its policies.' Ms Forstater said the government had not implemented the ruling in schools or in its own facilities. She said the government has 14 days to reply to the letter, adding: 'All we're asking them to do is put a simple statement on their website which says that their facilities are separated by sex and they also provide unisex facilities so everyone's included.' In response to Sex Matters' concerns, a spokesman for the government told The Times: 'The Scottish Government has been clear that we accept the Supreme Court judgment. 'We are reviewing policies, guidance and legislation potentially impacted by the judgment. 'This will prepare us to take all necessary steps when the regulator of the Equality Act 2010, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, publishes its revised statutory code of practice and associated guidance for services, public functions and associations. The EHRC is currently consulting on this revised code of practice. 'We will respond to any letter received in due course.'
The National
2 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Sex Matters considers new legal action against Scottish Government
Sex Matters, which intervened in the For Women Scotland case against the government, has sent ministers a formal 'letter before action'. In April, the Supreme Court said the words 'woman' and 'sex' in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex – a ruling which had implications for access to single-sex spaces. Sex Matters argue the Scottish Government is failing to implement the ruling in the public sector, though ministers including John Swinney have said they accept the judgment and are waiting for further guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission before taking the next steps. It comes after For Women Scotland also said it was considering more legal action against the Scottish Government. The letter, seen by the PA news agency, says the government must implement the ruling 'without delay'. It also says the government's guidance in a document called 'Supporting transgender pupils in schools' is 'wrong and must be withdrawn with immediate effect'. The charity's chief executive Maya Forstater spoke to the BBC's Good Morning Scotland radio programme on Wednesday. She said: 'The Supreme Court has made the law absolutely clear: men are male and women are female and both have a right to dignity and privacy in things like toilets and changing rooms as well as specialist services like women's refuges. 'The Scottish Government is dragging its feet, it hasn't changed its policies.' READ MORE: Scotland must 'go beyond mitigating Westminster' with minimum income guarantee Forstater said the government had not implemented the ruling in schools or in its own facilities. She said the government has 14 days to reply to the letter, adding: 'All we're asking them to do is put a simple statement on their website which says that their facilities are separated by sex and they also provide unisex facilities so everyone's included.' In response to Sex Matters' concerns, a spokesman for the government said: 'The Scottish Government has been clear that we accept the Supreme Court judgment. 'We are reviewing policies, guidance and legislation potentially impacted by the judgment. 'This will prepare us to take all necessary steps when the regulator of the Equality Act 2010, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, publishes its revised statutory code of practice and associated guidance for services, public functions and associations. The EHRC is currently consulting on this revised code of practice. 'We will respond to any letter received in due course.'
