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Robert Wintemute vs. transgender people

Robert Wintemute is a Canada-born lawyer and anti-transgender activist. Wintemute is affiliated with anti-trans separatist group LGB Alliance and has written for anti-trans publications including Quillette and The Telegraph. Wintemute is author of the 2025 book Transgender Rights vs. Women’s Rights, published by Polity.

Background

Robert Warren Wintemute was born on July 25, 1957. Wintemute earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Alberta in 1978. Wintemute then attended McGill University, earning law degrees in 1982. From 1982 to 1987, Wintemute was an associate bankruptcy lawyer at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP in New York.

Wintemute joined The Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College London in 1991. In 1993, Wintemute earned a doctorate from University of Oxford.

Wintemute gained prominence with the 1996 monograph, Sexual Orientation and Human Rights: The United States Constitution, the European Convention, and the Canadian Charter. In 2014, Wintemute published “Accommodating Religious Beliefs: Harm, Clothing or Symbols, and Refusals to Serve Others,” which developed a harm-based framework for balancing religious freedom with anti-discrimination law. Also that year, Wintemute published “Does EU law permit unequal survivor’s pensions for same-sex couples?” which addressed financial equality for same-sex partners under EU social security law.

Anti-trans activism

Wintemute was one of 29 human rights experts who adopted the 2007 Yogyakarta Principles, a non-binding international legal principles document related to sexual orientation and gender identity. Wintemute later disavowed two of the principles related to gender identity:

  • Principle 3: Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law:
    • a) Ensure that all persons are accorded legal capacity in civil matters, without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and the opportunity to exercise that capacity, including equal rights to conclude contracts and to administer, own, acquire (including through inheritance), manage, enjoy and dispose of property;
    • b) Take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to fully respect and legally recognize each person’s self-defined gender identity;
    • c) Take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to ensure that procedures whereby gender identity is legally recognized are effective, fair and non-discriminatory, and that they are based on the principle of self-determination;
    • d) Ensure that such procedures are simple, accessible and, where possible, free of charge;
    • e) Ensure that all identity documents, including birth certificates, passports and other official documents, reflect the person’s self-defined gender identity;
    • f) Ensure that no eligibility criteria, such as medical or psychological treatment, sterilization or divorce, are prerequisites for legal recognition of gender identity.”States shall ensure that all persons are accorded legal capacity in civil matters, without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
  • Principle 31: Everyone has the right to legal recognition without reference to, or requiring assignment or disclosure of, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics:
    • a) Ensure that all persons can obtain identity documents, including birth certificates, passports and other forms of identification, without discrimination;
    • b) Ensure that legal recognition of gender is based on self-defined gender identity;
    • c) Ensure that procedures for changing legal gender markers are quick, transparent and accessible;
    • d) Ensure that no medical or psychological requirements, including sterilization, surgery, hormonal treatment or psychiatric diagnosis, are required for legal recognition;
    • e) Ensure that where gendered information remains in identity documents, it may be changed upon request to reflect the person’s self-defined identity;
    • f) Ensure that no person is required to disclose or prove their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics in order to obtain legal recognition.

In 2017, the Yogyakarta Principles were updated to YP+10 without Wintemute’s involvement. The revision of Principle 31 called to “end the registration of the sex and gender of the person in identity documents” and stated in cases where sex or gender continues to be registered:

  • i. Ensure a quick, transparent, and accessible mechanism that legally recognises and affirms each person’s self-defined gender identity;
  • ii. Make available a multiplicity of gender marker options;
  • iii. Ensure that no eligibility criteria, such as medical or psychological interventions, a psycho-medical diagnosis, minimum or maximum age, economic status, health, marital or parental status, or any other third party opinion, shall be a prerequisite to change one’s name, legal sex or gender;
  • iv. Ensure that a person’s criminal record, immigration status or other status is not used to prevent a change of name, legal sex or gender.

Wintemute reported being “shocked when I read it.” In 2018, Wintemute began embracing anti-trans activism:

Everything changed in 2018. My lightbulb moment came at a university summer school. I was asked to explain the “spousal veto” under UK law: a wife must consent, if her husband wishes to change his legal sex to female and in turn make their opposite-sex marriage into a same-sex marriage. I said that the husband’s human right to change his legal sex could be limited to respect “the rights of others” (the wife’s right not to be in a same-sex marriage against her will).

A transgender student could not understand how I could compare the husband’s “fundamental human right” with the wife’s right under “a contract” (their marriage). Feeling frustrated, I said: “Trans rights don’t trump everything else!”

The transgender student became angry and stormed out of the classroom. Finally, it dawned on me that some members of the transgender-rights movement did not seem to understand that women have human rights too.

Over the next two years, I began to speak with women about their concerns about some transgender demands.

In 2021, Wintemute came out publicly as anti-trans in an interview with Julie Bindel and Melanie Newman for The Critic. The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World) then ended its relationship with Wintemute. Wintemute then became a trustee of LGB Alliance and spoke at their first conference.

Wintemute has stated: “There is no human right to documents that are biologically false. An individual’s birth sex never changes, regardless of any medical treatment they receive.” Wintemute expressed these views without incident at a staff research seminar at King’s College London in November of 2021. In January 2023, Wintemute planned to give the same speech at McGill University under the title “The Sex vs. Gender (Identity) Debate in the United Kingdom and the Divorce of LGB from T,” but the event was cancelled amid protests. That cancellation made Wintemute a cause cĂ©lĂšbre among anti-trans activists like Jon Kay, Graham Linehan, and “Eliza Mondegreen” and led to inteviews with Andrew Doyle, Meghan Murphy, Sophie Robert, Bev Jackson, Louise Perry, and Josh Szeps.

In 2025, Wintemute’s book Transgender Rights vs. Women’s Rights was published by Polity. The book was blurbed by conservative trans activist Debbie Hayton, among others.

In 2026, Canadian anti-trans group Pour les droits des femmes du QuĂ©bec (PDF QuĂ©bec) announced an event featuring Wintemute.

References

Alvarez, Leticia (May 30, 2025). KCL professor says he faced ‘hostile mob’ of students after changing mind on trans rights. The Tab https://thetab.com/2025/05/30/kcl-professor-says-he-faced-hostile-mob-of-students-after-changing-mind-on-trans-rights

Graves, Nelson A. (2024). Queer Becomings: Deleuze and Guattari’s Critique of Static Identity Categories. Masters thesis, Concordia University https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/id/eprint/994365/

Hansford, Amelia (December 14, 2023). LGB Alliance claims it ‘led’ law change years before it even existed. PinkNews https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/12/14/lgb-alliance-law-change-claim/

Rabie, Carly (January 18, 2023). McGill Students Protest Against Sex Vs Gender Debate. The Bull & Bear https://bullandbearmcgill.com/mcgill-students-protest-against-the-sex-vs-gender-debate/

Staff report (January 11, 2023). Protest by trans activists forces cancellation of McGill speech. Montreal Gazette https://montrealgazette.com/news/protest-by-trans-activists-forces-cancellation-of-mcgill-speech/

Rowe, Daniel J. (January 10, 2023). McGill speaker’s talk cancelled after trans activists protest. CTV News https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/mcgill-speakers-talk-cancelled-after-trans-activists-protest/

Walker, Chris (January 10, 2023). Students at McGill University in Montreal Protest Anti-Trans Speaker. Truthout https://truthout.org/articles/students-at-mcgill-university-in-montreal-protest-anti-trans-speaker/

Morris, Erika (January 9, 2023). Protesters storm McGill University talk on sex vs. gender, shutting it down. CBC News https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/mcgill-backlash-anti-trans-talk-1.6708251

Matthews, Stephen (March 4, 2022). Strategic Litigation at the European Court of Human Rights: Q&A with Professor Robert Wintemute. King’s College London https://www.kcl.ac.uk/strategic-litigation-qa-with-professor-robert-wintemute-same-sex-equality

Anti-trans coverage

Wilson, Gary (2026). Robert Wintemute, Transgender Rights vs. Women’s Rights. Liverpool Law Rev (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10991-026-09411-w

Linehan, Graham (June 8, 2026). Trans activists and their recurring target: gay people. The Glinner Update https://grahamlinehan.substack.com/p/trans-activists-and-their-recurring

Cohen, Nick (July 15, 2025). Trans Ideology Hits the Buffers: Time for a New Human Rights Strategy. Writing from London https://nickcohen.substack.com/p/trans-ideology-hits-the-buffers

Grove, Jack (January 18, 2023). Professor targeted by trans activists condemns ‘shameful episode.’ Times Higher Education https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/professor-targeted-trans-activists-condemns-shameful-episode

Olivera, Alex (January 12, 2023). Proving my point! Speaker thanks militant transgender protestors for shutting down his event at McGill University – where he was to talk about how trans zealots RUIN free speech. Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-11626357/Protestors-shut-McGill-University-event-transgender-zealots-shutting-free-speech.html

Mittermaier, Sarah (January 11, 2023). This is what ‘no debate’ looks like. gender:hacked https://sarahmittermaier.substack.com/p/this-is-what-no-debate-looks-like

Staff report (January 11, 2023). “Blatant hate speech”: Trans activists outraged by McGill University event they say promoted transphobia. CityNews Montreal https://montreal.citynews.ca/2023/01/11/mcgill-trans-activists-protest/

Kay, Jonathan (January 10, 2023). A Mob Stormed a Feminist Event at McGill Law School—in Defence of Gender Justice, of Course. Quillette https://quillette.com/2023/01/12/feminists-tried-to-meet-at-mcgill-law-school-fortunately/

Agence QMI (January 10, 2023). Deux femmes agressées pour avoir voulu assister à une conférence controversée [Two women attacked for wanting to attend a controversial conference]. Le Journal de Montréal https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2023/01/10/deux-femmes-agressees-pour-avoir-voulu-assister-a-une-conference-controversee

Bindel, Julie; Newman, Melanie (April 2021). The trans rights that trump all: Women’s rights were not considered in legislation that allows trans people to effectively decide their own gender. The Critic https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/april-2021/the-trans-rights-that-trump-all/ full text https://juliebindel.substack.com/p/robert-wintemute

Selected writing by Wintemute

Wintemute, Robert (June 16, 2025). It Should Never Have Come to This: If we hadn’t spent so long pretending that ‘trans women are women,’ the growing political movement to align our laws with biological reality wouldn’t have been necessary. Quillette https://quillette.com/2025/06/16/it-should-never-have-come-to-this-transgender/

Wintemute, Robert (May 27, 2025). I changed my mind on trans rights – and lost multiple friends. The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/27/i-lost-friends-when-i-changed-my-mind-on-trans-rights/

Moron-Puech, Benjamin; Wintemute, Robert; Camaji, Laure; Menard–Mondon, Gabin; Douailin, OcĂ©an; Danon, Natacha; Diaz, Johana; Bonnaccorsi, Julia (2024). Droits des personnes transgenres. Quelles difficultĂ©s ? Quelles rĂ©ponses ? [Transgender Rights: What Challenges? What Responses?]. Droits des personnes transgenres. Quelles difficultĂ©s ? Quelles rĂ©ponses ? https://hal.science/hal-04902090/

Wintemute, R. (2021). Belief vs. Action in Ladele, Ngole and Forstater. Industrial Law Journal, 50(1), 104–117. https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwaa030

Wintemute, Robert (2019). Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights in India: From Naz Foundation to Navtej Singh Johar and beyond. In Juss, Satvinder [editor] (2019). Human Rights in India. Routledge, ISBN 978-0367178604

Wintemute, R. (2014). Does EU Law Permit Unequal Survivor’s Pensions for Same-Sex Couples? Industrial Law Journal, 43(4), 506–517. https://doi.org/10.1093/indlaw/dwu027

Wintemute, Robert (2014). Accommodating Religious Beliefs: Harm, Clothing or Symbols, and Refusals to Serve Others. The Modern Law Review, vol. 77, no. 2, pp. 223–53. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24029776

Wintemute, Robert (1997). Recognising New Kinds of Direct Sex Discrimination: Transsexualism, Sexual Orientation and Dress Codes. The Modern Law Review, Vol. 60, No. 3 (May, 1997) , pp. 334-359 https://www.jstor.org/stable/1097240 reprinted in Bamford, Nicholas [editor] (2014). Sexual Orientation and Rights. Routledge, ISBN 978-1315243375

Books

Wintemute, Robert (2025). Transgender Rights vs. Women’s Rights: From Conflicts to Co-Existence. Polity, ISBN 978-1509560752

Wintemute, Robert (1996). Sexual Orientation and Human Rights: The United States Constitution, the European Convention, and the Canadian Charter. Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0198259725

Media

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps and Robert Wintemute (November 2, 2025). Are We Allowed to Discuss This? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImqPFhVm3-w

Maiden Mother Matriarch with Louise Perry and Robert Wintemute (June 11, 2025). Trans Rights vs. Women’s Rights – Robert Wintemute | Maiden Mother Matriarch Episode 147. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YGHih7U-lw

David Kattenburg with Robert Wintemute (May 5, 2025). Sex is Complex – UK Supreme Court Rules on XY & XX. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuvaXamhcg8

PartizĂĄn Podcast with ZsĂłfi Balogh and Robert Wintemute (December 11, 2024). Whatever the ‘T’ says, ‘LGB’ must follow | ZsĂłfilter #s03e06. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON51dZaGMG8

LGB Alliance with Bev Jackson and Robert Wintemute (December 20, 2023). ‘Pensions Equality Achieved’ An Interview with Professor Robert Wintemute. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QmFocXOQUQ

Dragon Blue TV with Sophie Robert and Robert Wintemute (June 6, 2023). LGB ou LGBT? Interview du Pr Robert Wintemute : les femmes aussi ont des droits humains [LGB or LGBT? Interview with Professor Robert Wintemute: women have human rights too]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Mmes98ARQc

Meghan Murphy with Robert Wintemute (January 22, 2023). Are trans rights human rights? Robert Wintemute on the trans rights debate and how we got here. https://www.feministcurrent.com/2023/01/22/are-trans-rights-human-rights-robert-wintemute-on-the-trans-rights-debate-and-how-we-got-here/

GBNews with Andrew Doyle and Robert Wintemute (January 15, 2023). Trans protestors SHUT DOWN university talk on women’s rights | Professor Robert Wintemute. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orCiHYtlmg0

QUB radio with Benoit Dutrizac and Robert Wintemute (January 10, 2023). Un professeur victime d’intimidation de la part du mouvement pour les droits des personnes transgenres [A teacher targeted by intimidation from the transgender rights movement]? https://omny.fm/shows/dutrizac/un-professeur-victime-d-intimidation-de-la-part-du

QUB radio with Sophie Durocher and Robert Wintemute (January 10, 2023). «Ma copine et moi avons Ă©tĂ© violentĂ©es par les militantes», tĂ©moigne une militante pour la libertĂ© d’expression [“My girlfriend and I were assaulted by activists,” says a free speech activist]. https://omny.fm/shows/sophie-durocher/ma-copine-et-moi-avons-t-violent-es-par-les-milita

LGB Alliance with Bev Jackson, Robert Wintemute, Jane Clare Jones, Lucy Masoud, Alice Sullivan, and Lisa Townsend (November 16, 2021). Session 2: Facts Matter – Erasing LGB in Language, Law & Data. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXQINlDTB0g

Resources

King’s College London (kcl.ac.uk)

Quillette (quillette.com)

LGB Alliance (lgballiance.org.uk)

Yogyakarta Principles (yogyakartaprinciples.org)