Britain’s first transgender judge, Dr Victoria McCloud, has warned that the UK now feels less safe for trans people than it did in the 1990s. In her first interview since initiating legal action against the government at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), she expressed concern that April’s Supreme Court ruling on biological sex could discourage young trans people from coming out. Dr McCloud, who retired last year, said that while the 1990s offered fewer legal protections, there was “less of a climate of fear” than exists today.
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The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention has criticised recent judicial and governmental developments in Britain, warning they could contribute to the “erasure” of trans and intersex people. The Institute’s statement highlighted both political decisions and media narratives as fuelling hostility, while international organisations, including the UN and the Council of Europe, have voiced concerns. Dr McCloud, who has relocated to Ireland, said she remains cautious when visiting London, citing fears of becoming a target for those with gender-critical views.
Alongside her legal challenge, she has established the Trans Exile Network, which supports families considering leaving the UK over concerns for their children’s wellbeing. Her case, led by a trans-inclusive legal team, argues that the Supreme Court breached her rights under Article Six of the European Convention on Human Rights by excluding trans voices from a ruling that directly affects them. While gender-critical campaigners celebrated the ruling as a safeguard for women’s rights, McCloud argued it has already led to increased abuse of people who do not conform to gender norms, including cisgender women.
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Responding to concerns about single-sex spaces, Dr McCloud noted that trans people have accessed such spaces for decades without reported incidents. She emphasised the distinction between trans women with legal recognition and men posing as women to cause harm. Citing medical, legal, and judicial safeguards in the process of acquiring a Gender Recognition Certificate, she underlined that the system is “tightly regulated”. Pointing to statistics, she added that trans people are more likely to face violence from non-trans people than the other way around, stressing that the trans population in Britain remains very small.
