Immigration judge is blasted after misgendering a trans woman witness

by · Mail Online

An asylum seeker accused of pretending to be gay to stay in Britain has been granted an appeal after a judge was found to have blundered - while also misgendering a trans witness.

The Pakistani man, who came to the UK as a student, applied for permission to remain here but was rejected by an immigration tribunal.

But the judge who made that decision has now had it struck out - while also being criticised for using the word 'he' when referring to a witness who identifies as a trans woman.

Upper Tribunal judge Paul Skinner has described the previous ruling's 'use of non-female pronouns' as something which was 'to be regretted'.

He also said the previous judge had erred by suggesting the applicant was in a 'marriage of convenience' with a woman, whereas the man is not married at all.

An asylum seeker accused of pretending to be gay to stay in Britain has been granted an appeal after the case was heard at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in London (pictured)
Claudia Coelho was misgendered by a judge in a previous ruling on a asylum seeker's bid to remain in the UK after she gave evidence as a witness in support of him, a new judgment says
The earlier misgendering has been criticised in a new ruling by Upper Tribunal judge Paul Skinner (pictured)

That was the reason he gave for overturning the asylum rejection and sending it back to be heard again by a different judge.

But Judge Skinner, deputy judge of the Upper Tribunal's Immigration and Asylum Chamber who heard the case at London's Field House, made a point of raising concerns about how a trans witness who had been supporting the asylum seeker was mentioned in the earlier ruling. 

He highlighted the Equal Treatment Bench Book as stipulating that 'it should usually be possible for a trans person to be referred to in their acquired gender'.

He said: 'A person’s gender identity can be of profound importance to an individual and for a trans person being referred to by their birth sex may cause real distress.

'Moreover, referring to a trans witness by their birth sex is unlikely to foster an environment where they feel comfortable in giving evidence or feel like they have treated with respect.' 

The new judgment describes how one of the applicant's witnesses supporting their appeal was a trans woman named Claudia Coelho, adding: 'That she is trans is made clear in paragraph 1 of her witness statement.'

Judge Skinner says: 'Notwithstanding this, and the fact that the Judge in certain places refers to Ms Coelho as "she", in her decision, the Judge (as well as misspelling the witnesses’ surname "Quoeto") states "he has been a host at Disco Rani since 2012. He welcomes people when they come to the club."'

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The other judge tells of asking the witness 'whether it is [sic] never crossed his mind that the appellant is pretending to be gay in order to regularise his immigration status in this country to which they replied that the thought never crossed their mind'.

Judge Skinner said of those comments: 'The Judge’s use of non-female pronouns to describe Ms Coelho, and the apparently interchangeable use of different gendered pronouns (which may itself reasonably be perceived (whether correctly or not) as reflecting a view by the Judge that Ms Coelho’s gender identity is not something worthy of respect), are to be regretted.'

The asylum seeker, who has been granted anonymity, first claimed asylum on the basis of his sexuality on September 29 2020, a new ruling published by the Upper Tribunal shows.

The Home Office rejected his claim 'on the basis that it was not accepted that he was in fact gay', prompting an appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal which hears immigration cases.

But the Home Office has now 'conceded' that the original decision should be set aside, the appeal allowed and the case heard again, the new ruling says.

The trans woman involved in the case was described as a host at Disco Rani, a nightclub holding LGBTQ+ events in South Ealing, west London

Judge Skinner said the previous judge made an 'error of law' by saying the Home Office had considered 'the marriage as a marriage of convenience' after being told of a relationship between the asylum seeker and a woman.

He said: 'This is wrong in two respects: first, the appellant had never claimed to have been married to his partner.

'And, secondly, as already noted, there was no allegation by the Respondent [the Home Office] as to the genuineness or otherwise of the claimed relationship.

And he added: 'By the by, the Judge also appeared, wrongly, to have considered that this was an application under the EU Settlement Scheme, which did not exist at the time of the appellant’s 2018 application.'