High Court to hear judicial review claim from nonbinary US citizen over UK gender recognition law

A judicial review claim that argues the Government's failure to issue a nonbinary US citizen a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) breaches the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is scheduled to be heard by the High Court on Wednesday (1 November).

Ryan Castellucci applied to be recognised as nonbinary through the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA) in 2022 but is yet to have been issued a GRC.

The 2004 Act states that a person can apply for a GRC on the basis of having changed their gender under the law of an approved country or territory outside the UK.

Castellucci was born in California, which is on the approved list of territories, along with most US states.

They moved to the UK in 2019 and have sought to have their gender recognised through the 2004 Act, which does not include an explicit list of which genders can be accepted.

Castellucci believes that having a GRC which states their gender as nonbinary is the only way they can legally clarify their gender in this country.

However, the Minister for Women and Equalities argues that the GRA only permits applications for the grant of a GRC on a binary basis, namely male and female.

Castellucci argues that the Gender Recognition Panel (GRP) tasked with considering their application breached its statutory duty to issue a GRC in terms which record Castellucci's acquired gender as nonbinary.

In May of this year, Castellucci was given permission to have their claim heard by the High Court on the following two grounds:

1. The GRP's refusal to issue a GRC recording their gender as nonbinary means Castellucci is treated differently from a person from California whose acquired gender is male or female, and is therefore discriminatory contrary to Article 14 ECHR; and
2. The GRP's refusal amounts to an infringement of their right to a private life contrary to Article 8 ECHR.

Ryan Castellucci said: "In 2021, I signed a petition to make nonbinary a legally recognised gender in the UK. So did over 140,000 others. Parliament did not take us seriously. The next year, I applied for a GRC based on my foreign birth certificate which says I'm nonbinary. Then I was taken seriously.

"My application for a GRC was granted, but I still have not been issued the GRC that the law appears to entitle me to. Legal recognition of nonbinary gender seems inevitable at some point, but it will take a lot longer if nobody fights for it. I look forward to a normal life with my family and the same legal recognition most people take for granted."

The Government has been approached for comment.

Adam Carey