The Good Law Project (GLP) has launched legal action against an NHS hospital after it, GLP says, "refused to operate on a woman just because she’s trans", arguing the decision amounted to unlawful discrimination.
The case centres on Lisa*, who was scheduled to undergo surgery in May 2025 to have her testes removed to alleviate ongoing pain. However, a week before the operation was due to take place, the hospital contacted her to say the procedure had been cancelled.
According to GLP, the hospital said it could not proceed because the surgery was classed as gender‑affirming care. The organisation disputes this, arguing the procedure was clinically necessary to treat pain and was unrelated to gender transition.
GLP says refusing treatment on the basis of gender identity breaches the Equality Act 2010, which protects people from discrimination on the grounds of gender reassignment. It is bringing a claim on Lisa’s behalf alleging direct discrimination.
The GLP also criticised the hospital for failing to provide any alternative treatment plan. Instead, Lisa was referred to a gender identity clinic, where waiting times for treatment are currently estimated at up to six years.
In a statement, the organisation said the decision to cancel surgery represented “a shocking failure of medical ethics” and left a patient in significant pain without appropriate care. It added that the case raises wider concerns about how trans patients are treated within the NHS.
“This isn’t just about one cancelled operation,” GLP said. “It’s about a system in which trans people are too often viewed through a political lens rather than treated as patients with medical needs.”
Charlene Pink, a campaigns manager at GLP, said the case reflected a broader pattern affecting trans people across the UK.
“This appalling treatment isn’t a blip or an accident,” Pink said. “With the rollback of trans rights in full swing, it’s the predictable outcome of systems that treat trans people as something less than people.”
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