The UK’s Supreme Court has ruled that “man”, “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to sex, not self-ID or paperwork (gender-recognition certificates). This agreed with our legal interpretation. We have published new guidance and are in the process of updating our publications to reflect the judgment. We are also working to provide answers to the questions we're hearing from supporters and the media. We will publish these as soon as possible.

Simon Briscoe

Data and statistics expert

Simon Briscoe

Simon is a director of a data science start-up and a consultant on statistics. Previously he has been a civil servant (mostly Treasury), a researcher in investment banking, and Statistics Editor at the Financial Times. He has advised parliamentary committees and been a trustee of several data-related charities including Full Fact and the Royal Statistical Society.

“Data will only reveal the important similarities and differences in a population if the statistical categories and definitions used in a data set have been chosen with rigour and clarity of thought. Only then will we have good figures to underpin policy making and improve our collective understanding of the world. In short… sex matters.”