In brief
The claimant, a trans woman who had lived and worked as female since 1991, was refused a state retirement pension at the age of 60 (the then-female retirement age) because the UK had not legally recognised her acquired sex. The ECJ held that Directive 79/7 (social security) precluded legislation that denied a trans person a state pension at the age applicable to their acquired sex where the member state had not provided a means for legal recognition. The refusal constituted unequal treatment on grounds of sex.
When relevant
State-benefit cases involving trans persons, Arguments about the scope of sex discrimination protection, Historical context for GRA 2004
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