Member

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as the courts have repeatedly made clear, protects not only the right to speak but the right not to be compelled to speak—not to be forced to express a belief you do not hold. Prohibiting misgendering, whether directly by making it capable of being a criminal offence under the Public Order Act or through the chilling effect of adding this aggravator to the charging regime, would be a breach of that guarantee.