All rise for UK's first transgender judge: Campaigners praise High Court 'Master' who went from Jason to Victoria

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Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3435412/All-rise-UK-s-transgender-judge.html

All rise for UK's first transgender judge: Campaigners praise High Court 'Master' who went from Jason to Victoria

• Dr Victoria McCloud is the most senior public figure known to have transitioned from male to female and has been hailed as a pioneer
• She is the youngest-ever Master in the High Court at the age of 46
• The judge has presided over cases involving Russell Brand and Katie Price

By Sanchez Manning for The Mail on Sunday

Published: 23:07 GMT, 6 February 2016 | Updated: 01:24 GMT, 7 February 2016

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Dr Victoria McCloud is the most senior public figure known to have transitioned from male to female

A transgender woman has made history after becoming a leading judge in the High Court, The Mail on Sunday reveals today.

Dr Victoria McCloud is the most senior public figure known to have transitioned from male to female – and has been hailed as a pioneer by equality campaigners.

As the youngest-ever Master in the High Court, the 46-year-old has presided over high-profile civil cases involving celebrities such as Russell Brand and Katie Price.

She currently lives in London with her transgender partner, NHS psychiatrist Dr Annie McCloud, with whom she has been in a civil partnership since 2006.

Heather Ashton, of Kent transgender support group TG Pals, last night praised Master McCloud’s ‘courage’, saying: ‘Transgender people were objects of ridicule in the past – they were afraid to come out publicly at all about who they were.

‘This is another person being courageous enough to say we’re here, we’re in all walks of life.’

Master McCloud was born Jason Williams and was educated at Christ Church College, Oxford, from where, by 1993, she had graduated with a psychology degree and a doctorate. The then Dr Jason Williams completed a law conversion course a year later and in 1995 was called to the bar.

Initially as ‘Jason’ and later as ‘Victoria’, she practised at a barristers’ chambers specialising in civil and family law. As Dr Victoria Williams, from 2005 to 2009, she was author of a series of legal handbooks – and started working as a deputy costs judge at the Supreme Court.

After 2009 – in recognition of her civil partnership with Dr McCloud – she began publishing using the surname McCloud.

As Dr Victoria McCloud, she became the youngest and only second female ‘Master’ – a judge who deals with all forms of civil action – to be appointed to the Queen’s Bench division of the High Court in 2010.

As Master McCloud, she has overseen notable cases including a 2013 libel case in which comedian Russell Brand denied published claims he had an affair with a 23-year-old model.

A judiciary spokesman said British courts have an ‘increasingly’ diverse workforce, and added that now ‘judges come from all walks of life reflecting society in general’.

And last year, she told model Katie Price to pay £200,000 into court to continue a privacy claim against ex-husband Peter Andre and former manager Claire Powell.

In 2003, she wrote a letter to a Royal College of Psychiatry journal on the topic of transitioning from male to female.

Master McCloud has declined to speak publicly about her transgender status. But a judiciary spokesman said British courts have an ‘increasingly’ diverse workforce, and added that now ‘judges come from all walks of life reflecting society in general’.