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European Court To Examine British TS Cases
By Reuters
Contributed by Deeva Vincent
Strasbourg, France
February 24, 1998
Two Britons who had a sex
change won their campaign Tuesday to take their complaints
against Britain before the European Court of Human Rights.
Rachel Horsham and Kristina Sheffield, who were both born as men
and underwent sex transformation surgery to become women, had complained to
the European Commission of Human Rights that British law discriminated
against them.
The commission, which decides which charges should go before the
main court, said in a statement Tuesday that there had been a violation of
the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects a person's right to
privacy.
Horsham and Sheffield said British authorities refused to
change their original names and genders on their birth
certificates and other records.
``This has meant that on various occasions (Sheffield) has
had to reveal her previous gender, for example when she attended
court to stand surety for a friend and when she applied for car
insurance,'' the commission said.
Horsham, who lives in the Netherlands, told the commission
she was ``forced to live in exile because of the legal situation
in the United Kingdom.''
It was not clear how long it would take the court to deliver a
verdict.
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