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What does the 2025 Supreme Court ruling mean for people professionals?

  • Writer: Jim Glennon
    Jim Glennon
  • Mar 24
  • 3 min read

Written by Jim Glennon, MCIPD, Pride UK Training and Consultancy


You may remember last year’s UK Supreme Court judgment concerning trans people in relation to the Equality Act 2010 and been confused by conflicting accounts of what this means in practice.


What did the Court decide?

In For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers, the Supreme Court ruled that, regarding the Equality Act 2010, references to “sex”, “woman” and “man” are now to be interpreted as a person’s sex assigned at birth, rather than their gender identity, as was previously the case. This interpretation applies even where a trans individual holds a Gender Recognition Certificate. However, it’s important to be clear that this case focused on how the Equality Act is interpreted in a very specific statutory context and it did not introduce any new legislation or amend the Equality Act.


What has not changed:

Importantly for people professionals, there have been no new statutory requirements placed on employers as a result of the ruling. Existing duties under the Equality Act 2010, Health & Safety legislation, safeguarding requirements and data-protection still remain fully in force.

  • Gender reassignment remains a protected characteristic under the Equality Act

  • Employers are not required to exclude trans people from single-sex toilet facilities

  • There is no requirement to change existing workplace EDI policies and practices


Confusion has been exacerbated because the law is still unresolved at the present time. Final guidance is with government and awaiting parliamentary clarification in 2026.  It is likely that future employment tribunal decisions may also shape how the final judgment is applied in practice.


Best practice for people professionals:

Since the ruling over 1,000 people practice leaders have rejected enforcing workplace toilet access based on birth-assigned sex, citing both ethical and practical concerns, and many have also reaffirmed their commitment to protecting trans-inclusion at work.


Until the UK Government issues clear statutory guidance, existing good people practice still applies and all organisations should:

  • Avoid unlawful discrimination or harassment, including on grounds of gender reassignment

  • Carry out reasonable and proportionate risk assessments (privacy, dignity, health & safety)

  • Treat gender-related adjustment requests on an individual and appropriate basis as usual


These duties remain legal and enforceable, so for now, the safest and most practical approach to the High Court ruling is to continue applying fair and evidence-based HR and EDI principles to ensure our workplaces remain safe, respectful and inclusive for all.



Pride UK Training and Consultancy www.prideukqualitystandard.com



Register for LGBTQ+ Pride; from Protest to Celebration


24th June | 12:00 - 12:45 (UK Time)


Register here




Session Summary

The annual Pride Month celebrations came out of a spontaneous LGBTQ+ fightback against police brutality at the Stonewall Inn, New York City, over 50 years ago. In the decades since that explosive event, the Pride movement has spread from New York to the UK, from the UK to Europe and today unites LGBTQ+ people and our allies in cities worldwide.

 

In UK Pride month 2026, the Pride UK team invite you to join us for a free lunchtime webinar when we look over Pride photography to remind us of battles lost and won in the long march for LGBTQ+ civil rights over the course of our lives, and look to the future together in what may be some very difficult times ahead.

 

This specialist Lunch and Learn session delivered over Teams will address:

  • The hostile climate endured by older generations of LGBTQ+ people in the UK

  • Stonewall’s New York fightback against police brutality and the birth of Pride

  • How London activists took up the baton for LGBTQ+ human rights in the UK

  • Political repression in the UK and the national fightback against Section 28

  • The changing law and HR policy strengthening LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace

  • Pride triumphs as community celebration, but faces challenging political times



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