Following the recommendation of the Advocate General, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled (Richards v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions) that it was contrary to the Social Security Equal Treatment Directive for a male-to-female transsexual to be refused a retirement pension before the age of 65 when under UK law a woman is entitled to receive a state pension at the age of 60. Sarah Margaret Richards was born a male but underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2001. In 2002 she applied to have her state pension paid at the age of 60. The Department for Work and Pensions refused on the grounds that she was still a male and would therefore have to wait until the age of 65. Ms Richards appealed to the Social Security Appeal Tribunal and the Social Security Commissioner, who referred the question to the ECJ. The action complained of in this case occurred before April 2005, when the Gender Recognition Act 2004 came into force. The Act gives transsexual people who make a qualifying application the right, from the date of recognition, to marry in their acquired gender, to be given a birth certificate recognising their acquired gender and to obtain the same social security benefits as anyone else of that gender. The ruling will therefore apply to female transsexuals who applied for but were denied a pension at age 60 before the Act came into force.
Content by: The Made Simple Group
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