Transgender person who opted to stay married “in the sight of God” wins pension court battle

The individual, who was born male but underwent gender reassignment surgery, had been told to wait until reaching 65.

They were told to wait until the male state pension age on the basis they decided not to annual their marriage.

Known as MB, they had chosen to stay married to their wife on the basis their commitment to wed was made “in the sight of God”.

But, the European Court of Justice has now ruled that a transgender person is not required to annul a marriage they entered into prior to transitioning gender, in order to receive a pension.

Transgender people can have their change formally recognised in the UK by acquiring a full “gender recognition certificate”, according to the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

Under that law, the document was conditional on a married person having their marriage annulled – a move intended to avoid same-sex marriage – which was illegal at the time.

After deciding to live as a woman in 1991 and undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 1995, MB did not apply for the paperwork.

On reaching her 60th birthday in May 2008, MB applied for a state pension but was refused because she was still, legally, male.

Having divided judges at the UK Supreme Court (pictured above), the case was referred to the European Court of Justice for guidance.

According to the ECJ, the UK’s marriage annulment…