UK's First Trans Judge Plans Legal Challenge in Human Rights Court

Britain's first transgender judge is taking the UK to the European court of human rights over the supreme court's ruling on biological sex.

- Libby Brooks

The UK supreme court ruled this month that the terms "woman" and "sex" in the Equality Act referred only to a biological woman and to biological sex, with subsequent guidance from the equality watchdog amounting to a blanket ban on trans people using toilets and other services of the gender they identify as.

Victoria McCloud, a former judge, is applying to the European court of human rights to bring action against the UK for infringement of her article 6 rights.

Article 6 of the European convention on human rights (ECHR) guarantees the right to a fair trial in both criminal and civil matters.

Last year, McCloud sought leave to join the litigation in the supreme court case brought by the gender critical campaigners For Women Scotland against the Scottish government, arguing it could significantly affect legal protections for transgender women, but was rejected.