Tuesday 3rd July 2001

Police seek transsexual ruling

Police are seeking an authoritative ruling on whether a transsexual who underwent a sex change operation and wants to join the force is legally a woman.

West Yorkshire Police are appealing against an earlier employment tribunal ruling in favour of the woman, known only as A, who is in her 30s and has been trying to join the force for five years.

David Bean QC, for the force, told the appeal tribunal the force had no animosity towards transsexuals.

He said: “Its concern in these proceedings is to obtain an authoritative ruling on whether A is, for all legal purposes, but particularly the search provisions of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, a woman.

“The case law, we say, so far has been in law, once a man, always a man.

“If that law has changed, or can be overruled or departed from, so that A is, for all purposes a woman, then the problem disappears and my client would have no objection to considering A as a possible recruit for the police.

“If A remains, in law, a man … then there is an insuperable obstacle to A performing searches, which the tribunal found, obviously rightly, are an integral part of the duties of a police constable.”

The employment tribunal’s finding was in effect “an incitement to deception on the part of the Chief Constable”, he added.

“The Chief Constable cannot be in a position where he holds out A to the public, and in particular to female suspects being searched, to be a woman, if A is in fact, in law, a man.”

The hearing, before a three-member tribunal presided over by Mr Justice Lindsay, is expected to last three days.

Story filed: 13:48 Tuesday 3rd July 2001

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