内容摘要：Women’s rights activists celebrate outside the Supreme Court to challenge gender recognition laws, in London, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Women’s rights activists celebrate outside the Supreme Court to challenge gender recognition laws, in London, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

out of the military, block federal spending onfor those under 19 and

nationally. His efforts are being challenged in court.The U.K. case stems from a 2018 law passed by the Scottish Parliament saying 50% of the membership of the boards of Scottish public bodies should be women. Transgender women with gender recognition certificates were to be included in meeting the quota.“Interpreting ‘sex’ as certificated sex would cut across the definitions of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ ... and, thus, the protected characteristic of sex in an incoherent way,” Justice Patrick Hodge said in summarizing the case. “It would create heterogeneous groupings.”

Women’s rights activists hold placards outside the Supreme Court to challenge gender recognition laws, in London, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)Women’s rights activists hold placards outside the Supreme Court to challenge gender recognition laws, in London, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

The campaign group Scottish Trans said it was “shocked and disappointed” by the ruling, saying it would undermine legal protections for transgender people enshrined in the 2004 Gender Recognition Act.

Maggie Chapman, a Green Party lawmaker in the Scottish Parliament, said the ruling was “deeply concerning” for human rights and “a huge blow to some of the most marginalized people in our society.”“Before, the church was closed to us. They didn’t see us as normal people. They saw us as the devil,” said Colombia-born Andrea Paola Torres Lopez. “Then Pope Francis arrived, and the doors of the church opened for us.”

The pope’s mixed legacy was epitomized by the Vatican’s 2023 synod bringing together hundreds of bishops and lay people to discuss the church’s future. The advance agenda mentioned LGBTQ+ issues; one of Francis’ hand-picked delegates was the Rev. James Martin, a U.S.-based Jesuit and prominent advocate of greater LGBTQ+ inclusion.Pope Francis presides at a Mass for the closing of the 16th general assembly of the synod of bishops, in St.Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Oct. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

Pope Francis presides at a Mass for the closing of the 16th general assembly of the synod of bishops, in St.Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Oct. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)of the three-week synod, there was no mention of LGBTQ+ people — reflecting the influence of conservatives who opposed Francis’ overtures to that community.