1970 Divorce court rules sex cannot be legally changed

The 1970s court case on recognition of gender for trans people..

The judgment in the 1970 English High Court case, known as, Corbett vs Corbett, (otherwise Ashley), is a landmark ruling that fundamentally shaped the legal definition of sex, and transgender rights, in the United Kingdom, for over three decades. 

The Case Background..

In 1963, April Ashley, a model and trans woman, married Arthur Corbett, an aristocrat.

Corbett was aware of Ashley’s gender reassignment surgery, at the time of the wedding. However, after the relationship failed, Corbett sought an annulment, rather than a divorce, arguing, the marriage was void because Ashley, was “of the male sex”. 

The Judgment (1970).

Presided over by Mr Justice Ormrod, (who was also a qualified physician), the court granted the annulment in February 1970. The key findings were:.. 

• A Biological Test for Sex:. The judge established a strict medical test to determine legal sex, based on three criteria present at birth:
  1. Chromosomal:, (XX for female, or XY for male).
  2. Gonadal:, The (Presence of testes or ovaries).
  3. Genital:, The (Anatomical appearance at birth).
• The Irrelevance of Medical Intervention:, The ruling stated that, hormonal treatments, surgical reassignment, and psychological self-identification, were legally irrelevant, for the purpose of marriage.
• “Void Ab Initio” : The court ruled, that because marriage was defined as a union between a man and a woman, and that Ashley was legally determined to be “male”, by the biological criteria, that the marriage was invalid from the start, (void ab initio).
• The Capacity for Marriage:, The Ormrod Judgement, argued that a trans woman could not, “reproduce a person who is naturally capable of performing the essential role, of a woman in marriage”. 

Impact and Legacy of the judgement.

• Legal Precedent:. The ruling set a precedent. that prevented transgender people in the UK, from changing their legal gender on birth certificates. for the next 34 years.
• On Civil Rights:, It led to decades of legal discrimination, where trans people were denied recognition in their true gender, for purposes such as marriage, pensions, and inheritance.
• Overturning the ruling:, This precedent remained in force until, it was effectively overturned, by the Gender Recognition Act 2004, which finally, allowed trans people to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate, to change their legal sex.
• April Ashley’s Recognition:, In 2005, Ashley was finally legally recognized as female. She was later awarded an MBE in 2012, for her services to transgender equality. 

The 1970 judgment in Corbett v Corbett, had a profound and long-lasting negative impact, on the rights of trans people in the UK, effectively freezing their legal status for 34 years. 

Key ways it affected rights include:,

1. Loss of Marriage Rights,

The court established that for the purposes of marriage, sex was legally determined by biological factors at birth, (chromosomes, gonads, and genitals). Because medical, or surgical interventions, were deemed legally irrelevant, trans people were barred from marrying someone of the same birth-assigned sex, as those unions were declared void from the start (void ab initio). 

2. End of Birth Certificate Amendments,

Before this case, some trans people had successfully,—though unofficially,—convinced the General Register Office, to “correct” their birth certificates. The 1970 ruling ended this practice, decreeing that, legal sex was immutable and “fixed at birth”. This meant trans people could not obtain identity documents, that matched their lived gender, leading to “outing” in various administrative, and professional contexts. 

3. Broad Legal Discrimination,

While the judgment was technically specific to marriage law, its reasoning was adopted across many other areas of life, and law. It became the standard for defining “sex”, in matters regarding:,

• Pensions and Social Security:, Eligibility, was often determined by a person’s birth-assigned sex, rather than their lived gender.
• Inheritance and Titles:, Trans people were frequently denied rights to inherit property, or titles, because they were not legally recognized in their true gender.
• Employment:, Until later European court challenges, (e.g., P v S and Cornwall County Council in 1996),, trans people had virtually no protection against being fired for transitioning. 

4. Judicial Dehumanization,

The language of the judgment was notoriously clinical and dismissive, labelling trans identity as, “abnormal” or “deviant”. Justice Ormrod argued, that a trans woman could not perform the “essential role of a woman in marriage,” which he narrowly defined as, “natural heterosexual intercourse”. 

Summary of Timeline,

The legal precedent of Corbett v Corbett, remained the dominant authority until:

• 1999:, when The Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations, provided the first significant employment protections.
• In 2002:, The European Court of Human Rights, (Goodwin v UK) ruled that the UK’s refusal to recognize legal gender, violated the right to privacy and marriage.
• In 2004:, The Gender Recognition Act, finally overturned the biological test established in Corbett, allowing legal change of sex for the first time. 

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