A transgendered woman won a landmark Court of Appeal ruling yesterday that she was entitled to a pension backdated to the age of 60.
Christine Timbrell, 68, a retired chartered accountant, had the unanimous backing of three appeal judges in overturning a previous ruling that she was only entitled to a pension at the age of 65 like all men.
The 2008 ruling said that her new status as a woman was not recognised in law because she had not divorced her wife — a move that would be contrary to Ms Timbrell’s religious beliefs.
Lord Justice Aikens, giving the appeal ruling, said that a lack of legal framework to allow UK law to recognise gender change and obtain a pension was discrimination.
The court’s ruling paves the way for other transsexuals who have remained married also to claim backdated pensions.
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Lord Justice Aikens, sitting with Lord Justice Thorpe and Lord Justice Moore-Bick, recalled that Ms Timbrell, from Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, was born a male in July 1941. “From her teenage years she felt she should have been a girl,” he said. “In her twenties she met Joy and they were married and had two children.
“In the late 1990s Ms Timbrell took advice from a consultant psychiatrist and she was treated for gender dysphoria. Then, in October 2000, with the full knowledge and consent of Joy, Ms Timbrell underwent gender reassignment surgery.
“Joy and Ms Timbrell decided to continue to live together as a married couple. They remain so.”
Ms Timbrell applied for a state pension in July 2001 but was turned down on the ground that she could only obtain a full gender recognition certificate if she was divorced. However, the couple, both Christians, say that divorce is against their faith
Ms Timbrell said: “The Government’s response to my claim for a retirement pension is that I am a man. I am not. It is humiliating that the Government will not recognise this.”
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She added: “Joy and I . . . love each other and are committed to each other. We discussed the matter with our vicar and he agreed with us that it would be hypocritical and probably invalid in the eyes of the Church were we to end a marriage that neither of us wished to end.”
Ms Timbrell claimed that the ruling was in breach of her human rights. The appeal judges agreed that she was being discriminated against under European law.
Lord Justice Aikens said that the decision not to give her a pension at 60 must be reversed, entitling her to a backdated pension.