The Trans Ex Judge Challenging The Supreme Court Gender Ruling

Newscast

BBC

Politics, News

4.4 • 6.4K Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today we hear from the woman who was the UK’s only transgender judge.

Laura speaks to Victoria McCloud, who stepped down from the job last year, about her challenge to overturn the Supreme Court unanimous ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities law.

In an extended interview, Victoria talks about why she thinks she could succeed, and about the ruling’s consequences.

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Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Laura Kuenssberg. It was made by Chris Flynn and Rufus Gray. The technical producer was Daffyd Evans. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The editor is Sam Bonham.

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:04.8	Hello, everybody. It's Laura here with Saturday's newscast.
0:07.9	Paddy is off on his holes this week, so he's not here.
0:11.1	But never fear I am joined by somebody else who's just as interesting.
0:16.6	Dr. Victoria MacLeod is a former judge who's trans.
0:20.6	She's challenging the Supreme Court ruling in April that a woman is a biological woman in equality law.
0:27.9	And therefore, by that law, a trans woman, born as a man, does not qualify in the same way.
0:33.7	Now, after years of a bitter and sometimes very divisive debate, the ruling was hailed
0:39.6	by politicians as providing a clear sense. The Prime Minister said it was clarity. The Tory
0:45.2	leader, Kemi Badock, said it was victory for the women who faced personal abuse or lost their
0:50.2	jobs for stating the obvious, as she put it. But the Supreme Court ruling was a huge
0:56.4	moment and a moment of concern for some of those who've lived their lives not in the gender
1:03.2	they were born in for many years. Dr. McLeod is now taking a legal case on her behalf and for
1:10.5	some of them to see what happens next.
1:13.2	Why and how she's challenging it is what we'll talk about in this conversation in this episode
1:18.1	of Saturday Newscast.
1:20.3	Newscast from the BBC.
1:22.7	He has just compared me to the fat controller.
1:25.7	Did I say that? I can't believe I said that.
1:28.5	Next Wednesday?
1:29.3	This is R for the benefit of Earth.
1:31.9	I'm not personally a huge Sabrina carpenter fan.
	...

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