Local MS Samuel Kurtz has described today’s ruling by the UK Supreme Court that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex as “important and the correct decision”.

Today’s 88-page Supreme Court ruling, delivered by Lord Hodge, concludes that the terms ‘sex’ and ‘woman’ in the 2010 Equality Act refer to biological sex, not acquired gender, and that ‘the concept of sex is binary, a person is either a woman or a man.’

Member of the Senedd for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Samuel Kurtz, said:

“This is important and the correct decision.

“We can, and must, still treat people with respect.

“But understanding and accepting scientific biological facts is vital.”

The verdict marks the end of a long-running legal dispute between the Scottish government and women’s rights group For Women Scotland.

Since forming in 2018, the group have argued for women’s only spaces, including single-sex toilets in schools, and have campaigned to remove ‘trans women’ from the definition of women in the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018.

The Scottish government argued that transgender people with an official gender recognition certificate (GRC) were entitled to sex-based protections under the Equality Act.

Today, the Supreme Court has stated: “If sex means biological sex, then provided it is proportionate, the female only nature of the service… would permit the exclusion of all males including males living in the female gender regardless of GRC status.”

Campaign group Stonewall called the ruling “incredibly worrying.” Transgender charity Mermaids described the day as ‘challenging’ and vowed that they will “never stop working towards equal rights for all LGBT+ people,” while Amnesty International expressed disappointment at the judgement but stressed that “the court has been clear that trans people are protected under the Equality Act against discrimination and harassment.”

The Supreme Court counselled against reading the judgment as a triumph of one or more groups in society at the expense of another. Nevertheless it was hailed as a victory by JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, who said it would protect the rights of women and girls across the UK. On hearing the verdict, Susan Smith, co-founder of For Women Scotland, declared: “Sex is real and women can now feel safe that services and spaces designated for women are for women.”

Former British Olympics swimmer Sharron Davies said: “It was always madness to suggest a £6 piece of paper changed a biological reality, which affects so many rights and safeguards.”

Evolutionist Richard Dawkins also praised the ruling, saying ‘the law has finally caught up’ with science.