Sex & Law : The Future for Women

The definition of a woman is being adjudicated in the Supreme Court on the 26th – 27th November. A legal journey that began in Scotland could have enduring ramifications for all women across the UK in terms of accessing sports, funding, seats on boards and the right to define who we are.

Emma Bateman talked to guest speakers Sally Wainwright from Lesbian Persistence and Paula Boulton from Lesbian Labour, about the legal tangle between the Equality Act 2010 and the Gender Recognition Act in which ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ are terms that are used interchangeably..
Sally explained the background to the appeal and gave participants an insight into some of the anomalies and contradictions within the legislation.

Paula gave a moving account of the realities of being a lesbian in a largely heterosexual society, and how lesbians culture and community is being eroded with the loss of female only spaces.

Both women have been involved in the group collectively known as the lesbian interveners, who have submitted additional arguments for consideration by the Supreme Court, because if the definition of a woman comes down to a gender recognition certificate then being a lesbian will not just be the love that dare not speak its name but the love that has had its very meaning taken away.
About our Guests

Paula Boulton

Paula has been fighting for women’s rights since she led a walk out at school over the right to wear trousers over 50 years ago. She was active in the Women’s peace movement in the 80s . She co-founded Lesbian Labour in 2020 and Lesbian Fightback in 2021. She is a musician and playwright.

Sally Wainwright

In 1988 Sally co-created the Deckchairs Collective, which organised Scottish Lesbian Gatherings to support lesbians following Section 28. She never imagined that by 2024, she’d need to be involved in setting up Lesbian Persistence or instigate a lesbian intervention in FWS’s Supreme Court case, because the erasure of lesbians is never ending. She is the co-editor of Women’s Rights, Gender Wrongs: the global impact of gender-identity ideology.