Recent social progress in LGBT+ issues in the UK is a cause for celebration but it is not the end of the story. Heteronormative stereotypes persist and can be harmful.
In the Medical Negligence and Personal Injury team we frequently work with disabled clients and understand the challenges that they face, not just in practical terms, but in relation to social attitudes to disability. However, disability is not the only aspect of a disabled person’s identity. Issues such as sexual orientation and gender identity are often relevant but can easily be overlooked.
When preparing claims on behalf of individuals (whether or not they are disabled), it is important to be aware of and challenge unwarranted assumptions about their sexual orientation or gender identity.
We should also be mindful when applying legal precedent, if those decisions are the result of outdated views, such as traditional gender roles. For example, general damages payable in respect of facial disfigurement historically differed between men and women, on the basis that a woman’s appearance was more important than that of a man’s. In 2012, retired Judge Dame Janet Smith challenged this, in her forward to the Judicial College guidelines, encouraging judges and lawyers to assess the effects of disfigurement on an individual Claimant, without making assumptions based on gender.
Even where outdated views regarding gender and sexual orientation do not produce different legal outcomes, they can still reinforce social stereotypes or erase from view important aspects of an individual’s identity. For these reasons we are committed to ‘seeing the whole person’ and avoiding unnecessary (and often inaccurate) assumptions.
Medical Negligence and Personal Injury Team
Latest blogs & news
Making Space for Homeless Queers: An Interview with The Outside Project
This Pride Month, Kingsley Napley’s LGBTQ+ & Allies Network spoke with Carla Ecola (they/them), Co-Founder and Managing Director of The Outside Project. The Outside Project was first established in 2017 to support those within the LGBTIQ+ community who are homeless, “hidden” homeless, or feel endangered or unable to access key services, such as housing.
Pride in the paths to parenthood
In honour of Pride Month, we are discussing (and celebrating) the diverse paths to parenthood within the LGBTQ+ community. For couples or individuals looking to start a family, there are a number of options available, each with important factors and implications to consider. This short blog touches on some of those considerations.
Trans+ History Week
Last week marked the second annual Trans+ History Week, founded by QueerAF in 2024.
Trans Day of Visibility – 31 March 2025
Trans Day of Visibility (sometimes referred to as ‘TDOV’) is an annual celebration of trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people, marked every year on 31 March 2025.
Transgender Day of Visibility
Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) is a day for joy and celebration. It is an opportunity for trans and non-binary people to feel seen, heard and loved, and for allies to visibly show their solidarity.
Expansion of the disregards and pardons scheme for historic same-sex sexual activity convictions
In a long-overdue announcement by the Home Office, women who were in the past unjustly convicted of same-sex consensual sexual activity will be able to apply for their convictions to be disregarded or pardoned for the first time. This is a significant step forward for queer rights in the UK.
The importance of LGBTQ+ & Allies networks
Kingsley Napley’s LGBTQ+ & Allies network is a large, loud and proud group
IDAHOBIT: International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia 2023
May 17th marks ‘International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia’, a day to raise awareness of the discrimination and violence that faces LGBTQ+ people. It serves as a reminder of the challenges the LGBTQ+ community face and the steps we still need to take to achieve LGBTQ+ equality.
Trans Day of Visibility 2023 – Echoes of The Past
On this year's Trans Day of Visibility, our Associate Ellie Fayle explains why it matters so much.
National Coming Out Day: How “coming out” is more about “letting people into your life”
How “coming out” is more about “letting people into your life”
No-Fault Divorce: A Step Forward for the LGBTQ Community
The introduction of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 on 6 April 2022, bringing in the long-awaited “no-fault divorce”, is considered to be one of the most significant reforms of family law in many years. Although not widely commented on, it also potentially signifies an important step for the LGBTQ community.
Oslo tragedy reminds us why Pride still matters
In the final blog of our Pride 2022 series, we say thank you to everyone who, in their own way, seek to make the world a kinder, better place for the LGBT* community.
1975 – 2022: An interview with Queer Strike
Pride 2022 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first official UK Gay Pride March held in London. We are marking each decade from 1972 to 2022 with a blog every week throughout June.
1982-1992 – Strength in Numbers
As part of our Pride month blog series, I have reviewed the period 1982 – 1992; the decade in which I was born. In the hope that I can still consider myself to be fairly young, to me, the 1980s do not seem that long ago. In researching the developments made during this decade, however, I was shocked reflecting on how out of touch and discriminatory the law, media and social views still were at the time.
1992-2002: Mermaids, Consent, and Gaytime TV too
Pride 2022 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first official UK Gay Pride Rally held in London. We are marking each decade from 1972 to 2022 with a blog every week throughout June.
2002-2012: A decade when Parliament put right two significant wrongs
Pride 2022 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first official UK Gay Pride Rally held in London, and we are marking each decade from 1972 to 2022 with a blog each week throughout Pride Month. This weeks blog covers the decade of of 2002-2012.
2012-2022: Why Pride Still Needs to be a Protest
Pride 2022 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the first official UK Gay Pride Rally held in London, and we are marking each decade from 1972 to 2022 with a blog each week throughout Pride Month.
Celebrating Trans Day of Visibility - A Kingsley Napley Q & A
We were recently excited and grateful to announce that Kingsley Napley was named in Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index 2022 of Top 100 Employers List for LGBTQ+ people. While it is vital for workplaces to commit to inclusion and create a welcoming environment for their LGBTQ+ staff, the annual celebration of Trans Day of Visibility (TDoV) importantly draws attention to the critical need for more meaningful visibility in the media and beyond in order to pave the way for trans liberation in wider society.
Hidden from History; Why We Should Rediscover The True Stories Behind Queer Art & Culture
Few would disagree with the suggestion that, in order to really understand an artwork and the full extent of its cultural resonance, one needs to know something about the artist who made it.
Banning conversion therapy: how the UK Government proposals fall short and risk criminalising gender identity counselling services
The UK Government proposals to ban conversion therapy fall short and risk criminalising gender identity counselling services.
On 29 October 2021 the Government launched a consultation on restricting conversion therapy. Although the Government proposals are a step in the right direction, it only limits conversion therapy rather than banning it outright.
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