THE UK’s first transgender judge is seeking leave to join a Supreme Court case about the legal definition of “woman”.
The case, brought by the campaign group For Women Scotland, is challenging whether Scottish Government legislation – specifically the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018 – looking to improve the gender balance on public boards should include transgender women.
Lady Haldane ruled most recently at the Court of Session that it was lawful to extend the definition of “woman” to transgender women with a gender recognition certificate.
Now, The Guardian is reporting that Victoria McCloud – a senior civil judge who became the youngest person appointed as master of the high court in 2010 – will apply to intervene in the appeal from For Women Scotland.
READ MORE: For Women Scotland lose Court of Session appeal over definition of a woman
The Guardian is reporting that McCloud is concerned about the effect of a successful appeal, which could significantly impact legal protections for transgender women.
While McCloud cannot speak to the press, a friend of hers told the newspaper: “This would mean in practice that women like her [with a gender recognition certificate] would lose rights to equal pay with men and experience restricted rights to services or moves to exclude her from spaces such as women’s lavatories.”
McCloud announced last month she is resigning from the bench due to the “toxic climate” in the UK towards transgender people.
In her resignation letter, she wrote: “I have reached the conclusion that in 2024 the national situation and present judicial framework is no longer such that it is possible in a dignified way to be both ‘trans’ and a salaried, fairly prominent judge in the UK.”
According to For Women Scotland, Haldane’s inclusive definition of “sex” leaves service providers of single-sex spaces “confused and at risk of legal action for unlawful discrimination”.
The executive director of the Good Law Project, Jo Maugham, said: “So many of these cases – about and with profound effects on the lives of trans people – are decided without any trans people in the room. Sometimes this happens because trans people can’t afford representation – they have no billionaire funders.
“Sometimes because it is said that trans people are self-interested – as though decisions about, say, black people should be made by white people. But however it happens it is not what justice looks like.”
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