Advice sought over Supreme Court gender ruling – O’Neill

Advice is being sought on how a landmark Supreme Court ruling on gender should be applied in Northern Ireland, First Minister Michelle O’Neil has said.

Ms O’Neill also urged compassion towards the transgender community, who she should were currently feeling under attack.

The Supreme Court in London declared earlier this month that the words “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex.

The ruling has been interpreted to mean that transgender women, who are biologically male but identify as women, can be excluded from women-only spaces such as toilets and changing rooms.

However, the ruling applied to the Equality Act 2010, which does not cover Northern Ireland.

During ministerial question time at Stormont, DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley challenged Ms O’Neill to give her view on the recent court ruling.

He said: “At a recent question time I asked the First Minister that when it comes to safeguarding women and young girls did she agree with me and the vast majority of women that biological men should not be in women’s safe spaces, in particular women’s changing rooms.

“The First Minister did not answer me.

“In light of the Supreme Court ruling which said that in terms of sex and gender, it is biological sex that defines a woman, can I ask the First Minister is it yes or no?”

Ms O’Neill urged MLAs to be “very sensitive” in their language.

She said: “These are complex issues and we need to work our way through the outworking of the Supreme Court ruling.

“We are all aware of the headline.

“But you also forgot to acknowledge any sensitivity around the issue at all, particularly for our trans community who are feeling quite attacked right now and feeling under attack in their own community and their own society.

“So, let’s be mindful of that. Let’s work our way through the ruling we have had in the Supreme Court which does not cover here because it refers to the Equality Act in 2010.”

Ms O’Neill added: “We ourselves have sought advice from our own officials.

“We await the Equality Commission’s ruling and guidance because I think that will be important for everybody in terms of how we would respond to this in a wider way.

“I just encourage a bit of sensitivity in the chamber, I encourage people to work towards an inclusive society, I encourage for us all to demonstrate some compassion for the LGBTQ community right now.”