Judge says trans man’s right to privacy was breached by marriage certificate details
A transgender man had his privacy breached after he legally changed his gender and got married, a High Court judge has ruled.
The judge, Mr Justice Treacy, issued a declaration meaning the trans man’s gender history should be kept a secret.
The applicant’s solicitors had issued proceedings after a reference to a previous civil partnership appeared on the marriage certificate for his later marriage, which is publicly viewable.
Ruling on the case, Mr Justice Treacy said: “There’s no justification for the breach of the applicant’s Article 8 rights.”
The lawyers argued for the man that the Stormont department should categorise him as being previously single to avoid increasing the distress he had gone through.
The transgender man who transitioned in early adulthood, was granted anonymity by the court.
The applicant was noted as female on the civil partnership certificate, but had later applied for a gender recognition certificate (GRC), to be legally recognised as male.
He argued that the wedding certificate revealing that he was previously in a civil partnership which was either dissolved or annulled meant that it was clear that one of the couple had a different gender history.
The easiest solution, his lawyers argued, was to list him as previously single on the marriage certificate.
The legal case argued that the disclosure that the civil partnership was dissolved amounted to a breach of his right to privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Stormont department’s counsel had argued that the certificate was a simple statement of facts, and that no intentional
Ciaran Moynagh, the solicitor for the applicant said: “For transgender people their gender identity history is a very personal and private matter that should not be disclosed unnecessarily.
“The court reaffirms his right to privacy that will allow him and his family to not worry when using official documentation.”
