Win: Coroner agrees to record trans man as male

After legal action from Good Law Project, a coroner has agreed to row back on an earlier decision and record a young trans man as male on his death certificate.

Aiden took his own life in May 2025, when he was only 20 years old. He had been living as male since he was 12, and had been on the waiting list at the Tavistock gender identity clinic since 2021. He also appeared as male in all his medical and financial records. But at an inquest in October 2025 the assistant coroner ignored his family’s requests and recorded him as female.

The coroner cited the Supreme Court decision on the definition of sex under the Equality Act, saying she found that “biologically the body was that of a female”. But the Supreme Court judgment did not say anything about how sex should be defined on death certificates. Guidance issued by the chief coroner in June 2025 also advises that “if after making enquiries a coroner concludes a person has chosen to present as male, then the coroner can regard them as male”.

When the family asked Good Law Project for help, we funded solicitors to prepare a legal challenge to this decision. They also wrote to the local council – who are responsible for the coroner’s court – explaining the law around registering deaths, arguing how this decision could be in breach of Aiden’s right to a private life, and laying out other issues with the inquest that could make it unlawful.

The council agreed to quash the inquest and hold another inquest with a different coroner. 

At a pre-inquest review earlier this month, the coroner cited the chief coroner’s guidance and “Aiden’s wishes in life”, confirming that “the record of Inquest will record name and surname as Aiden Longmuir, and sex as male, noting this was his chosen sex from a young age until his death”. 

The coroner has also widened the scope of the inquest. She has asked the Tavistock clinic to disclose evidence about Aiden’s referral and the support he received while waiting for his first appointment. She will also consider whether a failure to transfer Aiden from the child to the adult waiting list at age 18 may have caused further delay in his treatment, as well as any impact this had on Aiden’s mental wellbeing and access to testosterone.

For Cat Knight, deputy head of legal at Good Law Project, this case shows that “with legal representation and the platforming of trans rights, the wishes of trans people can be respected in death as they were in life”.

“But a family shouldn’t have to go through the trauma of an inquest twice,” Knight said. “The family quoted the correct guidance at the first inquest back in October and the coroner simply chose not to follow it.”

Good Law Project will keep supporting Aiden’s family through this difficult process, making sure his wishes are respected and his sex is recorded correctly when the final hearing concludes.