Friday 31st July 1998

Transsexuals fail in equality bid

By Katherine Butler in Brussels

Two transsexuals failed yesterday in their European court battle to win legal recognition as women.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled by a narrow majority that Britain is under no obligation to alter the birth certificates of Rachel Horsham and Kristina Sheffield.

Both were born male and after sex-change operations changed their names but are still regarded as men under English law.

By the narrow margin of 11 votes to nine, the Strasbourg judges rejected the transsexuals’ claim that the refusal to recognise their female name and gender was an interference with their privacy and family life and therefore in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The court, which oversees implementation of the Convention by its 40 signatory states, nevertheless reprimanded Britain for failing to keep its legal measures under review given the increased social acceptance of transsexualism and the increased recognition that transsexuals can face discrimination.

A statement from the two women issued by their lawyer said they were disappointed and called on the Government to honour its pre-election commitment to end discrimination. They took heart, they said, from the fact that at least three other cases challenging English law would be considered by the Strasbourg court later this year.

The court refused to accept that the two had suffered serious detriment by having to reveal from time to time that they were once men. It said the state had tried to minimise intrusion by issuing driving licences and other types of official documents in their new name and gender.

Both Ms Horsham and Ms Sheffield had argued in court that they had experienced “profound hurt and embarrassment” by having to produce their original birth certificates for such things as car insurance and or legal proceedings.

Upholding the right of the British state to refuse to amend the birth documents, the judges said transsexualism raised “complex scientific legal moral and social issues” to which there was no common European approach.

The plaintiffs had argued that the UK and Ireland were the only European countries which refused to legally recognise the new gender in sex change cases.

Recalling a similar Strasbourg judgment in the 1990 case of former James Bond girl and model Caroline Cossey who was also born a man, the Strasbourg court dismissed the claim that the UK was ignoring new medical findings on transsexualism.

Copyright © 1998 Independent Newspapers Ltd