The entrance of the Supreme Court in London, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)2025-04-16T04:18:26Z LONDON (AP) The U.K. Supreme Court is poised to rule Wednesday in a legal challenge focusing on the definition of a woman in a long-running dispute between a womens rights group and the Scottish government. Five judges at Britains highest court are scheduled to rule whether a transgender person with a certificate that recognizes them as female can be regarded as a woman under equality laws.While the case centers on Scottish law, the group bringing the challenge, For Women Scotland (FWS), has said its outcomes could have U.K.-wide consequences for sex-based rights as well as everyday single-sex services such as toilets and hospital wards. Whats the case about? The case stems from a 2018 law passed by the Scottish Parliament stating that there should be a 50% female representation on the boards of Scottish public bodies. That law included transgender women in its definition of women.The womens rights group successfully challenged that law, arguing that its redefinition of woman went beyond parliaments powers. Scottish officials then issued guidance stating that the definition of woman included a transgender woman with a gender recognition certificate.FWS sought to overturn that.Not tying the definition of sex to its ordinary meaning means that public boards could conceivably comprise of 50% men, and 50% men with certificates, yet still lawfully meet the targets for female representation, the groups director Trina Budge said. The challenge was rejected by a court in 2022, but the group was granted permission last year to take its case to the Supreme Court. What are the arguments? Aidan ONeill, a lawyer for FWS, told the Supreme Court judges three men and two women that under the Equality Act sex should refer to biological sex and as understood in ordinary, everyday language.Our position is your sex, whether you are a man or a woman or a girl or a boy is determined from conception in utero, even before ones birth, by ones body, he said on Tuesday. It is an expression of ones bodily reality. It is an immutable biological state.The womens rights group counts among its supporters author J.K. Rowling, who reportedly donated tens of thousands of pounds to back its work. The Harry Potter writer has been vocal in arguing that the rights for trans women should not come at the expense of those who are born biologically female.Opponents, including Amnesty International, said excluding transgender people from sex discrimination protections conflicts with human rights. Amnesty submitted a brief in court saying it was concerned about the deterioration of the rights for trans people in the U.K. and abroad.A blanket policy of barring trans women from single-sex services is not a proportionate means to achieve a legitimate aim, the human rights group said. SYLVIA HUI Hui, based in London, reports on UK news for The Associated Press with particular interest in foreign and social affairs and human rights. twitter mailto