Protest rally over Supreme Court gender ruling

More than 80 campaigners gathered in Reading's Town Hall Square

More than 80 people have attended a protest against a legal ruling that biology defines whether or not a person is a woman.

A crowd in Reading's Town Hall Square earlier heard speeches from campaigners including transgender women.

Supreme Court judges ruled on Wednesday that "woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex".

In their ruling, the judges stressed that the law still protects transgender people.

Protest organisers said trans people were being sent a message that "their identities are less valid, their protections conditional and their existence debatable".

Andrea Brooks from Newbury Pride said Wednesday would "go down in history as the day the UK lurched even further in its moves against equality and inclusion".

She told protesters: "This is not the description of a woman. It does not include those who are born without reproductive organs or non-functional ones."

Another speaker, Kirsten Bayes, a former deputy leader of Reading Borough Council, said: "The Supreme Court has served the interests of power for decades.

"We will overthrow both this ruling and the dire system of prejudice and disgrace that caused it."

In the ruling Judge Lord Hodge said gender reassignment was a "protected characteristic" and there was a legal bar against discrimination based on "acquired gender".

The ruling found the biological interpretation of sex was also required for single-sex spaces, including changing rooms and hostels, to "function coherently".

The judges noted "similar confusion and impracticability" had arisen in relation to single-sex associations and charities, women's sport, public sector equality and the armed forces.

The judges added: "The practical problems that arise under a certificated sex approach are clear indicators that this interpretation is not correct."