EHRC advises Govt to adopt biological definition of sex

‘Sex’ should be clearly defined as biological sex under the Equality Act, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has told the Government.

It was responding to a letter from Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch sent in light of the “increasing contestation of how the term sex is understood”.

Over 100,000 people have already signed a petition by women’s group Sex Matters, calling on the Government to specify that references to ‘woman’ in the Equality Act be restricted to biological sex and not “sex as modified” by a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).

Clarity and safety

In February, Mrs Badenoch wrote to the EHRC asking for its “considered advice” on amending the current definition of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 (EqA).

On Monday, its Chairwoman – Baroness Falkner of Margravine – replied that, on balance, “redefining ‘sex’ in EqA to mean biological sex would create rationalisations, simplifications, clarity and/or reductions of risk” in a number of current areas of legal dispute.

These included, Lady Falkner said, making it simpler for service providers “to make a women’s-only ward a space for biological women” and for organisers of women’s sport to exclude men who identify as women.

She also said that clarifying the definition would enable single-sex groups to restrict membership to biological women, as well as allow employers to limit certain permitted roles, such as a warden in a girls’ hostel, to biological women only.

Only 7,000 GRCs

Writing in The Times, Lady Falkner said: “we have recommended to the government that it consider adopting a biological definition of sex in the Equality Act”.

She went on to explain that the impact of such a change on people who identify as transgender would be limited.

“Currently, according to the census, about 0.5 per cent of the adult population – 262,000 people – identify as trans, but only about 7,000 of them hold a GRC.”

Biological reality

Maya Forstater, Executive Director of Sex Matters, described the EHRC advice to the Government as a “huge step forward for common sense”.

Earlier this year, Forstater told The Christian Institute: “We think that the only reading of the Equality Act that is consistent with the European Convention on Human Rights is one which maintains biological sex as a clear protected characteristic.”

She added, “there is a difference between men who identify as women, and women” and “a Gender Recognition Certificate does not change this reality”.