Trans people ‘have had their human rights breached’ after Supreme Court ruling

The government’s treatment of trans people in the UK could breach the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), a watchdog has warned.

The Supreme Court ruled in April that the word ‘woman’ refers to biological sex under anti-discrimination law, in a blow to trans rights.

Judges stressed that the ruling was not a comment on whether trans women are women and that it would not change their legal rights.

But experts told Metro that they fear it could be used to exclude trans women from single-sex services, such as public bathrooms or domestic abuse shelters.

Michael O’Flaherty, the human rights commissioner at the Council of Europe, has told the government his concerns about the decision after visiting the UK to observe human rights.

He wrote to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and MPs: ‘It should be ensured that steps taken towards implementing the Supreme Court judgment avoid a situation where a person’s legal gender recognition is voided of practical meaning, to the extent that it leaves trans people in an unacceptable “intermediate zone”.

‘It is also to be recalled that not all trans people wish to obtain legal gender recognition, and in reality simply live according to their gender identity.

‘This does not in any way diminish their right to be treated with dignity, to be protected from discrimination, and to be able to participate in all areas of everyday life.’

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