UK’S only trans judge quits over fears she has politicised the role

BRITAIN’S only transgender judge has quit after claiming she can no longer do the job without politicising the judiciary.

Master Victoria Mccloud, 54, said her publicly known status as someone who transitioned from a man to a woman meant she is “now political every time I choose where to pee”.

Ms Mccloud transitioned in the 1990s and became the UK’S first practising trans barrister and judge. She was the youngest person to become a King’s Bench Master of the High Court aged 40 in 2010. But eight years ago, her trans identity became public knowledge after being published by a national newspaper, which led to her becoming an advocate for diversity in the judiciary.

In a resignation letter, parts of which were leaked to The Times, she said this “came at a cost because I became a public figure and a target” and her role “came with the additional responsibility which fell upon me as the first judge from the ‘trans’ community in the UK and globally”.

She claims that “it has been open season on me and others” with the rise of gender-critical campaigners who stress that biological sex cannot be changed. She said this meant “the dignity of the court as well as personal dignity is at stake”.

“Rosa Parks’ choice of seat was political because of the colour of her skin,” Ms Mccloud said in her letter. “More prosaically, for me, I am now political every time I choose where to pee. Less prosaically, the judiciary, by continuing to let me be a judge, is now at risk of being political.”

Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor, said the resignation was “desperately sad” and that she was “one of the finest and fairest judges we have”.