Wednesday 4 July 2001

Court asked to rule on transsexual’s identity

LONDON: A transsexual is being thwarted in her bid to join the police because the law insists that anyone born a man will always be a man, a police department argued in court on Tuesday.

West Yorkshire Police are seeking clarification of the law before they will consider the woman - identified only as “A” - for the force.

As a man, she would not be allowed to search female suspects.

“We say, in English law, Once a man, always a man, once a woman, always a woman,” David Bean, lawyer for the police force, told the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

An earlier employment court ruled that A could be considered a woman, but Bean said that judgment appeared to contradict the law.

“The West Yorkshire Force has no animosity toward transsexuals, and 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,” Bean said.

“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,” he added.

A, who is in her 30s, has been trying to join the force in northern England for five years. Her lawyer, Stephanie Harrison, said she was prepared to have her transsexual identity disclosed where necessary during the course of her duties.

The hearing is expected to last three days. (AP)