We are concerned that UK Athletics’ interpretation of the “sporting exemption” set out in section 195 of the Equality Act 2010 is inaccurate, in particular the interpretation of how that provision interacts with the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
Their interpretation is at odds with our position that Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) holders can be lawfully excluded under the ‘sporting exemption’ in the Equality Act for reasons of fair and safe competition. We do not believe the For Women Scotland judgment altered this position.
Section 195 (1) creates a general exemption to enable sporting organisations to discriminate on grounds of sex in relation in sporting activity and provides that sports can be lawfully segregated where an activity is ‘affected by gender’. Gender affected activity is defined as follows: