“Trans people were wholly excluded from this court case”
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY ANNASTILLS
The UK’s only out trans judge, Dr Victoria McCloud, has vowed to challenge the UK Supreme Court’s ruling on the definition of the term “woman”. Dr McCloud has stated that she will take the government to the European Court of Human Rights, noting that the new guidance has violated her human rights, leaving her feeling “contained and segregated”.
On 16 April, the UK Supreme Court made the “unanimous decision” that the terms “woman” and “sex” refer to biological women and biological sex in the Equality Act 2010. Since then, thousands have protested this ruling, arguing that it does not provide clarity for trans people about how they can access services and violates their human rights.
Speaking to the BBC, Dr McCloud spoke about how she had tried to present arguments to the Supreme Court before the ruling, but was denied. “Trans people were wholly excluded from this court case,” Dr McCloud said. “[The court] heard no material going to the question of the proportionality and the impact on trans people. It didn’t hear evidence from us. The Supreme Court failed in my view, adequately, to think about human rights points.”
Following the ruling, the equalities watchdog’s interim guidance states that trans women should not use women’s facilities. Dr McCloud, like many other campaigners, pointed out why this puts trans people directly in harm’s way. “This is going to make matters much, much more dangerous,” she said. “I am now expected to use male spaces. I have female anatomy. It isn’t safe for women to use the men’s loos. It is as simple as that.”
“The approach here is really to treat normal people like me, who just happened to change legal sex decades ago, people who’ve served their country, worked in the military, doctors, lawyers, nurses, just ordinary, hard-working, peaceable people, as if we’re a threat to be contained and segregated.”
Dr McCloud became the first out trans judge in the UK in 2006. She resigned as a judge in April 2024 after “gender critical” abuse made her unsafe in her role. She was named as one of the trailblazers in Jacqui Rhule-Dagher’s Legally Lesbians list in 2024.
DIVA magazine celebrates 31 years in print in 2025. If you like what we do, then get behind LGBTQIA media and keep us going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.
