Stephen Whittle Wins 2002 Human Rights Award

by Christine Burns & Clare McNab

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In all the rush of the last couple of days it is sad that we haven't yet found enough time to report on the first good piece of news this week, which is that we were all delighted on Tuesday night to see our dear friend and colleague Stephen Whittle collect the 2002 Liberty/Justice Human Rights Award.

Stephen's Citation for the award reads:

For commitment and dedication to ensuring the advancement of rights for transsexual people in the U.K., Europe and around the world through judicial means, most recently in the Court of Appeal Case of A & The Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police.

An academic at Manchester Metropolitan University, he co-founded Press for Change in 1992.

I cannot tell you how proud we felt to watch him collecting that thoroughly deserved award for what amounts to a lifetime's work, and how satisfying it was, in its own way, to see how other lawyers are careful now to point out proudly the work that they have done for trans people over the years too.

We will end this week, just before Christmas 2002, with one of the most historic days in our long campaign. It is a huge undertaking that many people will have contributed to in their own various ways over the years. As we enjoy that thoroughly earned moment, however, it is well to keep in mind that the underpinning for so much of what we all do was put there by a man whose contribution to our lives stands head and shoulders above all the rest.

As we come to the end of P.F.C.s tenth incredible year since formation, please give Stephen a round of applause.

And a follow-up from Claire McNab:

As one of those privileged to be present when the award was made on Tuesday, I want to join Christine in saying what a wonderful moment it was when Stephen was announced as the winner. Most of us in P.F.C. have campaigned for a few years for trans rights, but Stephen has been working away for twenty-eight years — more than half his life. When Stephen began work, back in the 1970s, it was often physically dangerous to be identifiable as trans, and there was no protection available against harassment or discrimination or even against assault.

Those of us who became active campaigners in the 1990s have seen huge changes in that time, but it is almost scary to consider just how far we had already come thanks to those who started work when respect and equality seemed not just unachievable, but almost unimaginable.

Stephen modestly (but forcefully!) insists that he sees the award as recognition for the whole community, and not just for him — and he stressed that the breakthroughs we see this week are a result of the work which all the trans community has done. He is of course right in that: it is a triumph for all of us, for the hundreds and the thousands of people who have sacrificed their privacy and security in the struggle for basic human rights.

But as Christine rightly says, Stephen's contribution has been so especially significant and so tenacious that he is a thoroughly deserving winner.

His contribution does indeed tower above that of anyone else, and it has been a tremendous privilege for me to work alongside such an inspirational figure for the last few years.

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