by Sarah Ditum, The Times
Misinformation, vandalism and abuse after Supreme Court ruling have exposed misogyny wrapped in a rainbow flag
There are two ways of looking at the Supreme Court’s judgment in the For Women Scotland case. The first is actually to read it. If you do that, you’ll find a thorough and considered ruling that balances the rights of women and the rights of trans people under the Equality Act, while reaffirming throughout that both “sex” and “gender reassignment” are protected characteristics in law.
The second is to look at the reaction from trans activists and their allies, which is almost entirely unhinged from anything in the judgment itself. On social media, posters paraphrased Martin Niemöller (“First they came for the trans people …”) as though this were a new Holocaust. The Good Law Project accused the Supreme Court of ignoring trans voices, while acknowledging that no trans activist organisation had applied to intervene.
Jane Fae, of the organisation Trans Media Watch, presented it as the total destruction of trans human rights: “GRA [Gender Recognition Act]? Boom! Gone. EA [Equality Act] protections? Gone.” Unable to comprehend that the court had simply interpreted the law, Fae made conspiratorial noises about “dark money” and the influence of the far right. (For Women Scotland actually relies on small individual donations, with a bit of help from JK Rowling.)
None of this commentary had even a tenuous relationship to the facts of the case. But it fed a febrile sense of victimisation that, on Saturday, spilled out into protests across the UK, supported by many of the unions and some politicians. Among the throng was Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union, who posted some pictures from Parliament Square with the caption “Hate will never win”.