17/11/2017
A parent who left a tight-knit ultra-Orthodox Jewish community to start a new life as a woman has taken her fight for access to her five children to the Court of Appeal.
The transgender woman, referred to as J in an earlier court case, is contesting a ruling that her children faced greater psychological harm by being excluded from the Haredi community for having contact with her, than not having contact with her at all.
During the case, which was heard at Manchester family court in January, J explained that she hadn’t seen her children for around 18 months and wanted to be reintroduced to them sensitively. However, the children’s mother said that direct contact with J would lead to the children being ostracised at community festivities and family events.
This led the judge to rule with “real regret” that the children shouldn’t see J, but be allowed to communicate through letters and cards, citing: “These children are caught between two apparently incompatible ways of living, led by tiny minorities within society at large … It is painful to find these vulnerable groups in conflict.”
“In the final analysis, the gulf between these parents – the mother within the ultra-Orthodox community and the father as a transgender person – is too wide for the children to bridge.
“This outcome is not a failure to uphold transgender rights, still less a ‘win’ for the community, but the upholding of the rights of the children to have the least harmful outcome in a situation not of their making.”
J believes she’s the first person in the UK to leave a Haredi community after receiving help from an LGBT support group.
We’ll report on the outcome of the appeal when the ruling is made.
Please note that this article is meant as general guidance and not intended as legal or professional advice. Updates to the law may have changed since this article was published.