United Kingdom: Supreme Court Ruling and Women’s Sport

By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw

The issue of whether transgender women can participate in women's sport is a continuing and controversial one and has been covered, from to time, on this website, and has not been resolved in all sports at the elite and grassroots’ levels.

Perhaps, the ruling, on 16 April 2025, by the UK Supreme Court that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex may provide some guidance to sports’ governing bodies in dealing with this issue in future.

The highest court in the UK ruled that the "concept of sex is binary", and that a person with a Gender Recognition Certificate in the female gender "does not come within the definition of a woman".

In other words, there are only two categories: male or female.

A spokesperson for the UK Government stated that:

"The ruling brings clarity and confidence for women, and services such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs."

And added that:

"Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this Government.”

The ruling will have implications, at the elite and grassroots’ levels of sport, for the use of spaces, such as changing rooms and toilets, especially shared ones.

As regards females competing at the elite level of sport, it may be expected that more sports’ governing bodies will also issue regulations to protect the female category of their sports, as several have done so already.

For example, athletics, cycling and aquatics have introduced bans on transgender women taking part in their women's events.

Also, in 2022, British Triathlon became the first British sports’ governing body to establish an open category in which transgender athletes may compete.

Earlier in April 2025, the English Football Association (FA) also introduced stricter rules, but still allows transgender women to compete in the women's game, provided that their testosterone was kept below a certain level.

The FA stated that there were 20 transgender women registered to play amateur football in England, amongst the millions who play at that level, and there were none in the professional game in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

At the grass roots’ level of sport in the UK, where eligibility criteria are less strict, far more transgender people compete than at the elite level.

A spokesperson for Women in Sport, a charitable organisation based in London, stated that the organisation hoped that other sports would have the "confidence to protect the female category for natal women while finding solutions to enable transgender people to participate and compete.”

And added that:

"We have a responsibility to advocate for safety and fairness at every level in the sporting system, from grassroots to elite. We believe that everyone deserves the right to experience sport, and that to be safe and fair women and girls require a female category in almost all sports."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) currently allows individual Olympic sports to decide themselves how best to balance inclusion and fairness in their sports.

In light of the UK Supreme Court ruling, perhaps the new IOC President, Kirsty Coventry, an Olympian herself, may introduce more clarity on the thorny issue of protecting the female category in sport.

Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by