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Chamber and committees

Restoring Legal Compliance on Sex-based Rights in Public Policy

  • Submitted by: Ash Regan, Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party.
  • Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2025
  • Motion reference: S6M-17976

That the Parliament notes the unanimous ruling of the UK Supreme Court in April 2025, which confirmed that, under the Equality Act 2010, the protected characteristic of "sex" refers to biological sex; considers that, despite this legal clarity, numerous public policies across Scotland's prisons, schools, health services and public bodies continue to operate with policies that could be ruled as unlawful, by applying gender self-identification in place of the legal definition of sex; expresses grave concern that the continued operation of such policies could, it understands, erode data integrity and expose the Scottish Government to further legal challenge, financial liabilities, reputational damage and public safety risks; believes that women's rights to safety, dignity, privacy and fairness are non-negotiable and must not be contingent upon individual self-identification claims; understands that the term "case by case" refers to cases qualifying as single-sex exemptions in the Equality Act 2010 and not to individuals of opposite sex seeking access to single sex-exemptions, and calls on the Scottish Government to immediately revoke any unlawful policies, oversee a full audit of all relevant public policies and publish findings within 60 days, with a transparent timetable for full compliance with the law as clarified by the UK Supreme Court ruling.


Supported by: Pauline McNeill, Carol Mochan, Tess White