For Women Scotland
For Women Scotland is a Scottish campaign group that emerged in June 2018 in opposition to plans to allow changing legal sex registration through self-identification. The group describes itself as feminist and gender-critical.
Background
The group became internationally known through its case against the Scottish ministers. On 16 April 2025, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex. The judges stressed that they were not ruling on the meaning of gender outside that Act. Transgender advocacy organisations warned about the consequences of the judgment, while critics describe the group as anti-transgender.
What you can find
The website contains court documents, press releases, responses to Scottish policy and news about subsequent proceedings. See also legal matters and policy by country.
Who is behind it
For Women Scotland is a non-profit company registered in Scotland. Its directors are Trina Budge, Marion Calder and Susan Smith. Wikipedia lists Magdalen Berns as a co-founder. The group describes itself as women from across Scotland who want to protect and strengthen the rights of women and children. It identifies three aims: protecting the meaning of sex in law and policy, helping people speak out and promoting an evidence-based debate. Its starting point is that there are two sexes, and that sex is not a choice and cannot change.
The legal cases step by step
The first case concerned the Gender Representation on Public Boards Act 2018. The group lost in March 2021, but won on appeal in February 2022 before Lady Dorrian. A second petition, concerning the Scottish Government’s revised guidance, was rejected in December 2022. The appeal against that decision was also lost in November 2023. In February 2024, the group was granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court, which heard the case on 26 and 27 November 2024. The group raised funds for the proceedings through crowdfunding. According to PinkNews, J.K. Rowling contributed £70,000.
After the judgment
In August 2025, the group began new proceedings against Scottish policy for schools and prisons. On 19 June 2026, the Court of Session ruled that the Scottish Prison Service’s transgender policy was unlawful. Background information is available under gender and prisons. In the summer and autumn of 2026, the group wrote, among others, to Edinburgh City Council about toilets, to a committee of the Scottish Parliament and to Amnesty International. The text of the judgment is available under UK Supreme Court. The regulator responsible for implementing it is the Equality and Human Rights Commission.