SPLIT DECISION
THE final issue of the
Observer
under
Guardian
ownership came out on 20 April and with it brought a last reminder of the papers’ internal warfare over trans issues (
Eyes passim
).
The Sunday title’s editorial column and the adjacent bylined column by outgoing chief leader writer Sonia Sodha both addressed the Supreme Court ruling on 16 April – that the legal definition of a woman for the purposes of the Equality Act is based on biological sex. The paper called it “a dignified compromise that respects the rights of everyone”, while Sodha declared that “there could be no happier way for me to round off my last regular column for the Observer” and encouraged biological women to “pop those champagne corks. Celebrate as hard as you like.”