Britain's first transgender judge has lodged an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights against the Supreme Court's landmark ruling on the definition of gender. Victoria McCloud is challenging the April decision that unanimously ruled 'woman' and 'man' refer to biological women and men in the context of the Equality Act.
McCloud claims the UK's highest court undermined her Article 6 rights to a fair trial when it declined to hear evidence from her. The former judge argues there should be "no space for decision-making about us, without us" in legal proceedings affecting transgender people.
The Supreme Court ruled in April that "the concept of sex is binary" following a case brought by For Women Scotland. McCloud left her judicial role last year, saying she could not continue amid the increasingly fraught public debate over transgender rights.
Legal challenge details
McCloud will be represented by Oscar Davies, the UK's first openly non-binary barrister, and Olivia Campbell-Cavendish, founder of the Trans Legal Clinic and the UK's first black trans lawyer. The Trans Legal Clinic spokesman said the case embodies "the principle in Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights; the right to a fair and impartial hearing by an independent tribunal."
According to Express, the Trans Legal Clinic has launched a fundraising campaign targeting £150,000 to support the ECHR case. The Supreme Court can consider outside arguments from 'interveners' at its discretion but rarely allows individuals to intervene.
McCloud issued a combative statement declaring: "I intend to ensure that there will be no peace for the gender-critical ideological movement, the Labour Government appeasing it, or space in our schools, homes and workplaces for an ideology which causes harm, misery and oppression of a small and law-abiding minority in our formerly tolerant country."
Strong opposition
Women's rights campaigners have dismissed the appeal as legally flawed. Maya Forstater, chief executive of Sex Matters, said: "What we are being told about this proposed case is incomprehensible. The ECHR only hears cases that have exhausted all domestic legal remedies."
Forstater added: "This looks more like a deceptive and expensive PR campaign than a serious legal strategy." Susan Smith from For Women Scotland said it is the Supreme Court's "prerogative whether to accept interventions or not" and that it "rarely takes interventions from individuals."
Political controversy
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy faced criticism for wearing a trans rights T-shirt with the slogan 'protect the dolls' at a Pride march in her Wigan constituency. Critics described it as a "middle finger from the Labour Government to everyone who believes in biological reality."
The term 'doll' is 1980s slang for biological men who 'pass' as women but has seen revival after celebrities including Pedro Pascal and Madonna wore £75 T-shirts with the slogan. Fiona McAnena from Sex Matters said no government minister should promote slogans calling for men to identify into women's spaces.
McCloud transitioned in the 1990s and became the first transgender barrister and judge in the UK before resigning last year. In her resignation letter, McCloud likened herself to civil rights activist Rosa Parks.
Sources used: "PA Media", "Daily Mail", "Express" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
