What do women want?

Sarah Tanburn

On 16 April 2025, the Supreme Court ruled on a case brought by grassroots campaign For Women  Scotland against the Scottish Government. (Nation.Cymru covered it at the time, here and you can read the whole document for yourself here.)

The Court unanimously ruled that in the Equality Act 2010, ‘sex’, ‘woman’ and ‘sexual orientation’ refer to biological sex, and those meanings are not changed by certification or the assertion of a gender identity.

The Judgment covers Wales as well as England and Scotland.

What needs to happen here now?

Shock headline: men, including men who identify as women, are more important than women.

Noticeably absent from media coverage or vitriolic protest has been the experience of women who welcome the clear statement of their rights.

You might be unlucky enough to need a refuge, a hospital ward or a prison: in any of them you should be safe from assault, expect fairness and be able to protect your dignity and privacy.

The same is true of lesbian spaces, changing rooms and the playing field.

A legitimate single-sex space must be just that – founded on sex.

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How did we get here?

 Also missing till 29 April was any comment by Welsh Government.

Two weeks after the Judgment, Cabinet finally issued a statement. The only references to women in their comment are those citing the Supreme Court itself, and lesbians do not get a look in: ‘reassuring the trans community’ takes centre stage.

Clearly, the protected characteristics of sex and sexual orientation are lower in the hierarchy. Wales has not taken the bravura route of the SNP-controlled government at Holyrood, but make no mistake. The assertion that certificated sex and gender ideology matter more than biology is deeply embedded in our politics.

No self-respecting ‘feminist government’ should have issued such a commentary.

Just 15 years ago, everyone knew what a woman is.

The Judgment spells out that the Equality Act of 2010 refers to biology. No other interpretation makes sense. But for at least ten years, politicians of (nearly) every stripe have claimed the question is confusing and has led to such nonsense as intelligent people claiming a man can grow a cervix. (Diolch i David Lammy for that one.)

Plenty of doctorates will be written about the way the discourse was chivvied and changed and many organisations adopted policies and organisational development schemes which flouted the law of the land.

Policy has been shaped by advocacy groups rather than open political discussion or statistically valid evidence. Last year, I wrote about the damage caused by an ossified layer of unscrutinised lobbyists in Wales.

Now is the time to change our approach to civil society. Welsh Government needs to open their doors and ears to those of us trying to talk about the experiences of women including lesbians, gay men and others  who know that sex is real, immutable and important.

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Lots to talk about

Sexual orientation is not the same as gender identity. The figures in the Cass Report show that many gender confused youngsters will grow up to be homosexuals: in 2016, the statistics provided by the London-based Gender Identity Service (GIDS) said that 89% of girls and 81% of boys on their treatment pathways were either homosexual or bisexual.

The often-recited alphabet construction is misleading and the Supreme Court is sadly spot on in recognising the ‘chilling effect’ that identity politics have had on lesbian communities.

Nonetheless, despite strenuous objections, in 2022 the Welsh Government adopted an ‘LGBTQ+ Action Plan’ which rests firmly on false notions of homogeneity and ‘inclusiveness’. The Plan makes sweeping recommendations designed to influence all decision-makers to embrace the gender mantras. It now behoves the Government to withdraw the entire document, based as it is on the legally incorrect assertion that ‘trans women are women’.

Alongside the Action Plan, gender identity has become deeply embedded in the curriculum from three-year-olds onwards. I strongly support age-appropriate education in RSE, which must be based in the reality of our bodies as well as addressing the common discomforts associated with puberty, unwanted sexual attention and more.

Medicalisation of puberty and encouraging social or medical transition to escape adulthood is not a success of inclusion but a tragedy of our times.

Local authorities and all others working with youngsters must also review their approach to safeguarding.

For example, Urdd runs regular residential courses for young people and might be expected to ensure that accommodation is now categorically single sex. Instead, they have issued a statement for ‘trans friends’ and no reassurance for parents.

We have not seen the Children’s Commissioner or anyone else reflect on the implications.

Even a Northern Irish council, not covered by the Judgment, has been more proactive.

Health services, too, are infected by the push to dismiss sex as a central fact of our biology.

Cass report

Welsh Government signally failed to welcome the crucial report by Dame Hilary Cass into the over medicalisation of young people experiencing gender-related distress, but the NHS in Wales has begun to take account of reality.

For example, the Women’s Health Plan now recognises that sex is recorded (not assigned) at birth – a small but mighty step forward.

Alongside such developments, perhaps adequate investment in child and adolescent mental health services would serve our troubled young people well.

Data is another key area in the long list of topics. The Office of National Statistics has led the way in confusing sex and gender, further distorting the bases of policy. We have also seen a pattern of studies informing policy despite not meeting the most basic standards of research and many completely fail to consider lesbians as a separate category.

Last month, Prof Sullivan’s review offered a robust way forward, which Welsh Government should adopt.

 Where now?

It is not difficult for Government or institutions to take the next steps. As a bare minimum, they should make a  new statement recognising the law as clarified by the Court protects the rights of women and lesbians as well as those conferred by gender reassignment.

Recent protests – including in Welsh cities - have called for the burning, hanging and mutilation of people (like me) who support the judgment: is it too much to ask that a responsible government would condemn such language?

Alongside withdrawing the ‘LGBTQ+ Action Plan, Ministers need to meet with the community groups who have tried for years to discuss their concerns. The many references in this short article show the growing body of evidence suggesting that the clichés of ‘affirmation’ and ‘kindness’ have done more harm than good. Maybe then we can all work together for that welcoming, fairer Wales we would all like to see.