Rights of transsexual people

On 11 July, the European Court of Human Rights found against the UK in the cases of Goodwin v the United Kingdom and I v the United Kingdom. The UK was found to have breached the Convention rights of these two transsexual people under Article 8 (right to respect for private life) and Article 12 (right to marry). The judgments imply the right to a revised birth certificate in the transsexual person’s new gender (which, in turn, implies legal recognition): they explicitly require the right to marry in the new gender. Neither is possible, under UK law as currently interpreted. The Government is obliged, under international law, to implement the judgments as soon as possible, and as agreed with the court’s assessment at paragraph 90 of Goodwin that: ‘In the 21st century the right of transsexuals to personal development and to physical and moral security in the full sense enjoyed by others in society cannot be regarded as a matter of controversy requiring the lapse of time to cast clearer light on the issues involved.’