Gender critical

Gender critical is a term used to describe a set of beliefs centred on the view that biological sex is fixed and should be treated as distinct from gender identity. The term is contested: some who hold these views describe them as a matter of established legal and philosophical principle, while others – including many trans people and LGBT organisations – regard the gender-critical movement as primarily hostile to trans inclusion and rights. This article documents the term’s use, associated organisations and relevant UK legal cases.

Legal recognition

In the UK, gender-critical beliefs have been found to qualify for protection as a philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010. In Forstater v CGD Europe (2021), the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled that Maya Forstater’s gender-critical beliefs were protected under the Act, overturning an earlier employment tribunal decision. Forstater had not had her contract renewed by the Center for Global Development in 2019 after posting comments on government proposals regarding gender recognition. In 2023 she was awarded compensation by an employment tribunal. The ruling drew a distinction between holding gender-critical beliefs – which are protected – and expressing them in ways that may amount to harassment of trans people, which remains subject to other provisions of the Act.

Other instances where gender-critical beliefs have featured in legal or employment disputes include a 2024 tribunal finding that the Green Party discriminated against former deputy leader Dr Shahrar Ali in relation to his gender-critical views, and the case of Rev. Dr Bernard Randall, who was dismissed from his post as chaplain at Trent College, a Church of England school, following a sermon addressing the school’s approach to LGBT-inclusive policies, and who subsequently brought employment tribunal proceedings. Legal disputes in this area have continued to develop; a January 2024 Guardian article reviewed several ongoing cases.

In April 2025 the UK Supreme Court ruled in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers that the term “woman” in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex, not certificated sex – a ruling with significant implications for the interpretation of single-sex spaces and services. See For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers for a full account.

Trans people are themselves protected under the Equality Act 2010 under the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, and there have been numerous successful discrimination claims brought by trans individuals in UK employment tribunals.

Medical and scientific debate

The relationship between sex, gender and gender identity is an active area of debate in medicine, psychology and the social sciences. Mainstream professional bodies in the UK – including the NHS, the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Psychiatrists – have broadly supported gender-affirming approaches to care for trans people, though guidance in some areas has continued to develop.

In April 2024 Dr Hilary Cass published an independent review of gender identity services for children and young people in England, commissioned by NHS England. The review found the evidence base for puberty blockers and some hormone treatments was weaker than had been assumed, and recommended significant changes to how services were structured and delivered. NHS England subsequently closed the Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust. The Cass Review was welcomed by some gender-critical groups as validating their concerns about the medicalisation of gender non-conforming children; it was criticised by some trans advocacy organisations and clinicians who disputed elements of its methodology. It is an independent NHS-commissioned review, not a gender-critical document, and its findings continue to be debated among clinicians and researchers.

Organisations

A number of organisations describe themselves as gender-critical or campaign on related issues, including LGB Alliance, Sex Matters, LGB Liberal Forum, LGB Christians, Sex Matters to Quakers, SEEN and Lesbian Labour. These organisations are widely opposed by mainstream LGBT bodies – including Stonewall, the LGBT Consortium and Gendered Intelligence – who argue that gender-critical positions are harmful to trans people and inconsistent with an inclusive approach to LGB rights.

Genspect, an international organisation associated with gender-critical perspectives on youth gender medicine, describes gender as a social construction distinct from biological sex – a starting premise with broad academic support. Genspect and others go on to argue this means gender identity should not be given legal or social weight equivalent to biological sex, a further conclusion that is contested by many trans rights organisations, mainstream medical bodies and some academics.

In media

The 2022 documentary Adult Human Female presented a gender-critical perspective on debates around sex and gender recognition. The film has been widely described as an advocacy documentary rather than balanced journalism.

In 2023 Channel 4 broadcast Gender Wars, a documentary exploring both gender-critical and trans-inclusive perspectives. The programme featured [[Kathleen Stock]], a gender-critical philosopher who resigned from the University of Sussex in 2021 following sustained protest by students and staff over her published views on sex and gender.