Equality Court hears case of transgender learner denied rights

THE Legal Resources Centre (LRC) has argued that even though a transgender learner who was allegedly denied the right to express his gender identity at his Somerset West primary school, is no longer at the school or in the country, he is still entitled to relief for the discrimination he experienced.

- NICOLA DANIELS

They argued that harm does not disappear simply because the victim is no longer in the environment where it occurred. Judgment was reserved in the Equality Court case involving the then-8-year-old transgender learner whose parents allege that he was repeatedly denied the right to express his gender identity at Beaumont Primary School.

The legal battle has been ongoing for several years and the child has since moved to another country. The case against Beaumont Primary School, the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), at this stage focused on three key issues including whether the court has jurisdiction to hear the case, whether the matter is moot because the learner has since left the school and South Africa, and whether the Commission for Gender Equality should be admitted as an intervening party in the public interest. The learner and his parents, represented by the LRC, argued that even though he is no longer at the school or in the country, he is still entitled to relief for the discrimination he experienced.