Changes to gender recognition laws ruled out – BBC News
‘Ministers have ruled out changes to make it easier for transgender people in England and Wales to have their gender legally recognised.’
BBC News, 22nd September 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Category: gender
Misogyny ‘should become a hate crime in England and Wales’ – The Guardian
‘Misogyny should be made a hate crime in England and Wales, according to the independent body that recommends legal changes, as part of an overhaul of legislation.’
The Guardian, 23rd September 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
Self-ID for transgender people ‘unlikely’ to get ministers’ support – BBC News
‘Ministers are unlikely to back a major reform to the Gender Recognition Act, it is understood, amid fresh uncertainty over when the government will actually announce its plans.’
BBC News, 14th July 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
LGBT asylum seekers routinely see claims rejected in Europe and UK – The Guardian
‘People seeking asylum in the UK and Europe on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity are routinely seeing their claims rejected because of a widespread “culture of disbelief” and an “impossible burden of proof”, researchers have said.’
The Guardian, 9th July 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
How Being Legally Recognised As A Trans Woman Changed My Life – Each Other
‘Dee is one of approximately just 6,000 transgender people to have obtained a GRC under the Gender Recognition Act since it came into force in 2005. This statistic speaks volumes when compared with the actual number of trans people living in the UK which, according to the Government Equalities Office, is estimated at between 200,000 and 500,000.’
Each Other, 20th May 2020
Source: eachother.org.uk
Transgender man loses appeal and remains recognised as ‘mother’ on child’s birth certificate – Transparency Project
‘This case concerns an appeal by Alfred McConnell (previously anonymised as TT in the first instance decision). Mr McConnell was born female but around 10 years ago, at the age of 22, transitioned to become male, undergoing testosterone treatment and a double mastectomy. His passport and medical records recorded him as male. In September 2016, Mr McConnell commenced fertility treatment in order to have a child. He was also recorded as male at the fertility clinic. A gender recognition certificate was awarded shortly after in April 2017 so that Mr McConnell could be legally recognised as male. In January 2018, he gave birth to a son, who continued to be known as YY in this appeal. When registering the child’s birth, Mr McConnell was informed that he had to be recognised as the child’s mother on the birth certificate. He sought judicial review of this decision, claiming that he should be recognised as ‘father’, ‘parent’ or ‘gestational’ parent, and that being recognised as ‘mother’ interfered with his and YY’s rights under Article 8 and Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. A declaration of parentage, that Mr McConnell is the father, was also made on behalf of YY, under section 55A of the Family Law Act 1986.’
Transparency Project, 10th May 2020
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
Campaigners given permission for legal challenge over guidance from council on transgender issues in schools – Local Government Lawyer
‘The High Court has granted a campaign group permission for a judicial review challenge over Oxfordshire County Council’s guidance on transgender issues in schools.’
Local Government Lawyer, 29th April 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Transgender man loses appeal court battle to be registered as father – The Guardian
‘A transgender man who gave birth has lost his appeal court battle to be registered as a father in a case that wrestled with the legal definition of motherhood and transgender rights.’
The Guardian, 29th April 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
The Maya Forstater case and so-called ‘gender critical’ feminism: what was actually decided and what does it reveal about UK discrimination law? – Oxford Human Rights Hub
‘In Forstater v CGD (2019), a think tank did not renew its contract for consultancy services with the claimant, Maya Forstater, allegedly because of Forstater expressing so-called ‘gender critical’ beliefs. Forstater claimed that she had suffered direct discrimination for having a protected belief under section 10 of the Equality Act 2010. In a preliminary decision, the employment tribunal considered whether the claimant’s belief was indeed protected. Tayler J identified the core of the claimant’s belief to be that sex is biologically immutable and, in no circumstances, is a trans woman ‘a woman’ or a trans man ‘a man’, even when the person in question has a Gender Recognition Certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (paragraph [77]). Due to the belief’s ‘no circumstances’ aspect, the judge labelled it ‘absolutist’ ([84]).’
Oxford Human Rights Hub, 22nd March 2020
Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk
R (Christie Elan-Cane) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – Blackstone Chambers
‘The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in an appeal brought by a non-gendered person, Christie Elan-Cane, challenging the Government’s policy not to issue non gender-specific “X” passports to non-gendered, non-binary and other trans persons who do not identify as, or exclusively as, male or female.’
Blackstone Chambers, 10th March 2020
Source: www.blackstonechambers.com
Lack of gender neutral option on passport forms: no breach of human rights – UK Human Rights Blog
‘R (on the application of Christie Elan-Cane) v Secretary of State for the Home Department with Human Rights Watch intervening [2020] EWCA Civ 363. When we apply for a passport, we are generally asked to state on the form whether we are a man or a woman, and this is generally reflected in our passports. However, in our modern day and age, there are now more than two genders – some people can choose to define as gender neutral, essentially meaning that they don’t like to describe themselves using the normal terms of “man” or “woman”. MX Elan-Cane is one of those individuals. They sued the Home Office because there was no “X” (as in, no gender neutral) option on the passport form as it was a breach of their Human Rights. The High Court said that yes, this engaged Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention (the right to private and family life), but the current passport policy did not breach that right. The Court of Appeal agreed with the High Court, both that this engaged Article 8, but that the rights to a private life were not breached here.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 12th March 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
People cannot define themselves as gender neutral on passports, court rules – The Independent
‘A campaigner who wants passports to include a category for those who do not identify as male or female has lost a Court of Appeal challenge over gender neutral passports.’
The Independent, 10th March 2020
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Hammer-wielding trans woman escapes prison after judge hears there was no way to confirm her gender – Daily Telegraph
‘A trans woman who threatened shop staff with a claw hammer escaped prison after a court heard there was no way to confirm her gender.
Daily Telegraph, 27th February 2020
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Twitter, trans rights and the role of the police — an extended look – – UK Human Rights Blog
‘The case of R (Miller) v The College of Policing & The Chief Constable of Humberside [2020] EWHC 225 (Admin) is yet another decision arising out of an individual’s use of Twitter to share transphobic, or as they see it “gender critical”, views.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 21st February 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
White men still dominate judiciary, says Justice report – The Guardian
‘Progress to improve diversity in the judiciary is too slow and there has been stagnation in the appointment of BAME judges, according to a damning report by an influential law reform group whose head warns that senior roles are still “dominated by white men”.’
The Guardian, 29th January 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
Be Careful What You Tweet For (part 2) – UK Human Rights Blog
‘The Claimant’s belief in Forstater – that “sex is biologically immutable” — denied trans people their legal right to be recognised as the sex they had transitioned to even when they had obtained a Gender Recognition Certificate. This right has been recognised for over a decade by the European Convention on Human Rights (“the Convention”) and by domestic law in the Gender Recognition Act 2004. The Claimant’s belief — in the words of Judge Tayler — also violated the dignity of trans people and created an “intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment” for them.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 24th January 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
Be Careful What You Tweet For (part 1) – UK Human Rights Blog
‘Forstater v CGD Europe & Others [2019] UKET 2200909/2019. Last month, the Central London Employment Tribunal held that a woman’s belief that “sex is biologically immutable” was not protected as a philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 23rd January 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
What would ‘mother’ say? A legal digest of R v Registrar General for England and Wales – KCH Garden Sq
‘The latest article from Family & Civil pupil Samuel Peake looks at how the term ‘mother’ was defined for the first time in common law earlier this year by the President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane.’
KCH Garden Sq, 12th December 2019
Source: kchgardensquare.co.uk
