N. Ireland: Transsexual settles harassment case (BBC)

Tuesday, October 19, 1999 Published at 14:17 GMT 15:17 UK


UK: Northern Ireland

Transsexual settles harassment case

New regulations to protect transsexuals have been introduced

A man who changed gender to become a woman has settled a case for sexual harassment against her employer.

An agency of the Department of Health and Social Services which employed the woman has apologised for the hurt caused and has agreed to pay £10,000 in damages.

It has also promised a review of its policy towards transsexual employees.

The award is the first of its type in Northern Ireland and coincides with the introduction of new regulations aimed at protecting transsexual workers.

The new gender re-assignment regulations are part of sex discrimination legislation.

A spokesperson for the new Equality Commission has said the woman who brought the case experienced great difficulties.

Petra Sheils: Applicant suffered extreme trauma before case was settled

“Her compensation at the end of it was a relief probably that the nightmare was over,” said Petra Sheils, the Sexual Equality Legal Director of the Commission.

She explained that the new regulations had been introduced as a result of a European Court of Justice judgement.

“The law court there held the definition on the grounds of sex was too narrow and sex should be broad enough to include those who were changing sex,” she said.

Challenges

The difficulties being experienced by people who want to change gender is to feature in a BBC NI Spotlight programme on Tuesday night.

The programme reveals that there are approximately 150 transsexuals in Northern Ireland out of a UK total of 5,000.

The programme delves into the lives of some of these people and reveals their motivation for changing gender and the challenges posed by such a decision.

Among the transsexuals featured in the programme is Denise Martin who was born male and spent the early part of her life in Larne where she was known as Douglas.

“Whenever puberty hit, the rush I got from my hormones was so mixed because so much male and female hormones rushed into my body,” she said.

Dr Russell Reid is an English based psychiatrist who sees four new transsexual patients every week.

“This cross-dressing is not a hobby they do on a Saturday night,” he said.  “It’s not the same as the gay boys who cross dress and the drag queens - that’s a game, they’re parody women.”

“Transsexualism is a much more profound, deep-seated identity disorder.”

The Spotlight programme will be broadcast on BBC 1 Northern Ireland at 2220 BST.

Copyright © 1999, BBC News