The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom made a unanimous decision on Wednesday stating that transgender women do not meet the legal criteria to be classified as a “woman,” a term that is specifically designated for individuals who are born biologically female.

The court’s five judges agreed in the landmark ruling that “the terms ‘woman’ and ‘sex’” under the country’s 2010 Equality Act “refer to a biological woman and biological sex,” Justice Patrick Hodge said.

The ruling “does not remove protection from trans people,” who are “protected from discrimination on the ground of gender reassignment,” the court confirmed — however  a transgender person with documentation recognizing them as female should not be considered a woman for equality purposes.

The definition was challenged in 2018 after the Scottish Parliament passed a law stating that women should make up 50% of the representatives on Scottish public boards, which Scottish officials said included trans women with a Gender Recognition Certificate, which offers legal recognition of someone’s female sex under the Equality Act.

Women Scotland (FWS), the women’s rights group that brought the legal challenge, argued the Scottish officials’ redefinition of women went beyond parliament’s powers.

“Not tying the definition of sex to its ordinary meaning means that public boards could conceivably comprise 50% men, and 50% men with certificates, yet still lawfully meet the targets for female representation,” the group’s director Trina Budge had previously said.

The outcome of the case could impact sex-based rights and single-sex facilities across the UK, the group has said.

With Post wires