After a judge was found to have erred in law and misgendering a trans witness, the asylum seeker who was accused of feigning homosexuality in order to remain in the United Kingdom was granted an appeal.The man from Pakistan, who arrived in the UK as a student, requested to stay, but an immigration tribunal denied his request.However, that ruling has since been overturned, and the judge who made it has also come under fire for referring to a witness who identifies as a trans woman as "he." The 'usage of non-female pronouns' in the prior verdict was deemed regrettable by Upper Tribunal judge Paul Skinner. 

That was the reason he gave for overturning the asylum rejection and sending it back to be heard again by a different judge.

But Judge Skinner, deputy judge of the Upper Tribunal's Immigration and Asylum Chamber who heard the case at London's Field House, made a point of raising concerns about how a trans witness who had been supporting the asylum seeker was mentioned in the earlier ruling. 

He highlighted the Equal Treatment Bench Book as stipulating that 'it should usually be possible for a trans person to be referred to in their acquired gender'.

He said: 'A person’s gender identity can be of profound importance to an individual and for a trans person being referred to by their birth sex may cause real distress.

'Moreover, referring to a trans witness by their birth sex is unlikely to foster an environment where they feel comfortable in giving evidence or feel like they have treated with respect.' 

The new judgment describes how one of the applicant's witnesses supporting their appeal was a trans woman named Claudia Coelho, adding: 'That she is trans is made clear in paragraph 1 of her witness statement.'

Judge Skinner says: 'Notwithstanding this, and the fact that the Judge in certain places refers to Ms Coelho as "she", in her decision, the Judge (as well as misspelling the witnesses’ surname "Quoeto") states "he has been a host at Disco Rani since 2012. He welcomes people when they come to the club."

The Home Office has set aside a previous decision that the asylum seeker, Ms. Coelho, was married to a woman. The judge used non-female pronouns to describe her, which could be seen as a view that her gender identity is not worthy of respect. The case was initially rejected by the Home Office, which argued that it was not accepted that she was gay. The case has been reopened, with the original decision set aside and the appeal allowed. Judge Skinner criticized the previous judge's decision for making an 'error of law'.