Abstract
Membership of the EU has had an immensely positive impact on sexual orientation and gender identity rights in the UK. Following the decision to withdraw from the Union in 2019, there has been considerable speculation about the likely consequences for existing sexual orientation and gender identity rights. While recognising how the EU has precipitated (sometimes radical) ‘gay rights’ reform is important, it is arguably subordinate to the question of whether Parliament will seek future amendments or repeal. This chapter critically evaluates the likely consequences of Brexit for sexual orientation and gender identity rights. It identifies the key EU contributions to LGBTQI protections in the UK, and considers the status of those guarantees beyond Union membership. While the chapter acknowledges how the EU has helped to re-shape queer intersections with law in this jurisdiction, it nonetheless argues that Brexit is unlikely to fundamentally alter existing rights and entitlements.
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Notes
- 1.
Article 10(1)(d).
- 2.
Judgment of the 30 April 1996, Case C-13/94, EU:C:1996:170.
- 3.
Judgment of the 7 January 2004, Case C-117/01, EU:C:2004:7.
- 4.
Judgment of the 27 April 2006, Case C-423/04, EU:C:2006:256.
- 5.
Judgment of the 25 April 2013, Case C-81/12, EU:C:2013:275.
- 6.
Judgment of the 1 April 2008, Case C-267/06, EU:C:2008:179.
- 7.
Judgment of the 10 May 2011, Case C-147/08, EU:C:2011:286.
- 8.
Judgment of the 12 December 2013, Case C-267/12, EU:C:2013:823.
- 9.
Judgment of 7 November 2013, Cast C-199/12, EU:C:2013:720.
- 10.
Judgment of 2 December 2014, Joined Cases C-148/13—C-150/13, EU:C:2013:2406.
- 11.
Judgment of 25 January 2018, Case C-473/16, EU:C:2018:36.
- 12.
Judgment of 29 April 2015, Case C-528/13, EU:C:2015:288.
- 13.
[2018] 1 CMLR 26.
- 14.
[1981] 3 EHRR 40.
- 15.
[2018] 1 CMLR 26.
- 16.
Adoption and Children Act 2002, ss. 49 and 144(4).
- 17.
Criminal Justice Act 2003, s. 146.
- 18.
Dudgeon v United Kingdom [1981] 3 EHRR 40.
- 19.
[2002] 35 EHRR 18.
- 20.
[2004] 39 EHRR 30.
- 21.
[2000] 29 EHRR 493.
- 22.
[2011] 53 EHRR 6.
- 23.
Opinion of the 5 December 2017, Case C-451/16, EU:C:937.
- 24.
Judgment of the 30 April 1996, Case C-13/94, EU:C:1996:170.
- 25.
Judgment of the 7 January 2004, Case C-117/01, EU:C:2004:7.
- 26.
Steinfeld and Keidan v Secretary of State for Education [2017] EWCA Civ 81, [3].
- 27.
App. No. 28745/12 (ECtHR, 26 October 2017).
- 28.
[2017] EWCA Civ 81.
- 29.
Ibid., [132].
- 30.
Ibid., [164] and [175].
- 31.
[2016] NICA 55.
- 32.
Judgment of the 14 March 2017, Achbita v G4S Secure Solutions NV, Case C-157/15, EU:C:2017:203; Judgment of the 14 March 2017, Bougnaoui v Micropole SA, Case C-188/15, EU:C:2017:204.
- 33.
Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (S.R. No. 439 of 2006).
- 34.
[2013] 57 EHRR 8.
- 35.
[2013] UKSC 73.
- 36.
Norris v Ireland [1991] 13 EHRR 186.
- 37.
‘European Parliament resolution on protection and non-discrimination with regard to minorities in the EU Member States’ (2017/2937(RSP)); ‘European Parliament resolution on the current human rights situation in Turkey’ (2018/2527(RSP)).
- 38.
‘European Parliament resolution on implementation of the Council’s LGBTI Guidelines, particularly in relation to the persecution of (perceived) homosexual men in Chechnya’ (2017/2688(RSP)).
- 39.
‘European Parliament resolution of 5 July 2017 on the EU’s response to HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Hepatitis C’ (2017/2576(RSP)).
- 40.
Transrights (2014). https://transrightseurope.com/about-transrights-2/about-transrights/, accessed 13 February 2018.
- 41.
Rights on the Move—Rainbow Families in Europe (2013). http://www.mirovni-institut.si/data/tinymce/Projekti/ROTM_Neza/Project%20leaflet.pdf, accessed 13 February 2018.
- 42.
SOGICA—Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Claims of Asylum: A European Human Rights Challenge. http://www.sogica.org/en/the-project//, accessed 11 April 2018.
- 43.
‘Who We Are’, International Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Youth and Student Organisation (2018). http://www.iglyo.com/about/, accessed 13 February 2018.
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Dunne, P. (2019). Brexit: The Likely Impact on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Rights in the United Kingdom. In: Dustin, M., Ferreira, N., Millns, S. (eds) Gender and Queer Perspectives on Brexit. Gender and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03122-0_11
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