Trans, transgender, and transsexual in case law: A corpus-assisted analysis of ECtHR judgments

The European Convention on Human Rights aims at protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms and promoting democracy among the 46 members of the Council of Europe. As such, it protects people against any form of discrimination, including discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of three transgender identity labels (trans, transgender, and transsexual) in a corpus of 19 ECtHR judgments and compare them against the guidelines for a respectful use of language provided by GLAAD and TGEU, two organisations actively involved in the promotion of equality for LGBTQ+ and transgender people. The findings of this corpus- assisted analysis reveal a neglectable presence of the label trans and a use in step with the times of transsexual and transgender. The immediate cotext shows some violations of the guidelines, with transsexual being used as a noun when the adjectival form is considered the most appropriate one, and with both labels being preceded by modifiers emphasising surgical processes and transition phases. Further research is encouraged to expand the study not only beyond the three labels but also beyond ECtHR judgments to assess whether the language used in case law protecting against discrimination may happen to be – regrettably – discriminatory.