By IncludeAge
Responding to the Supreme Court ruling on the Equality Act 2010 – dated 16 April 2025
The whole focus of the IncludeAge project is about inclusion and belonging, learning from LGBT+ people and people with learning disabilities about their experiences and perceptions of inclusion and/or exclusion from physical places and online spaces. Our overall goal is to build on what people tell us and to use this information to develop possible solutions to make communities more inclusive.
With this in mind, we are issuing this project statement on the Supreme Court ruling on the Equality Act 2010, dated 16 April 2025. The ruling states that the definition of sex as used in the Equality Act 2010 is “binary” and decided by biology – a person who was not born as a biological female cannot obtain the legal protections the Act affords.
The Supreme Court also state that this interpretation should not remove protection from transgender people, whether or not they have a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). It adds: “Trans people are protected from discrimination on the grounds of gender reassignment.”
However, we are aware that many LGBTQ+ people across the UK are experiencing very real feelings of exclusion and fears about the wider implications of this ruling. This ruling appears to deviate from the clear original intentions and definitions in the Equality Act and as such it holds inherent risks for all LGBTQ+ people, as well as women with gender non-conforming appearance or attributes.
The IncludeAge project wish to reaffirm our commitment to addressing the inclusion and rights to services that offer safety and dignity for all trans and non-binary people. Indeed, our project feels more important than ever. Current times require vigilance and action to protect hard-won equality and civil rights for all LGBTQ+ people. We will continue to listen to the voices of those who feel excluded, and to work with organisations with a view to being as inclusive as possible to the specific groups IncludeAge focuses on.
Learn more about the Supreme Court ruling: https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/judgments/uksc-2024-0042.
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