University of Oxford wins the inaugural LSE-Featherstone Sexual Identity and Gender Orientation Moot

Two Oxford teams have competed in the inaugural LSE-Featherstone Sexual Identity and Gender Orientation Moot, named after the LGBT rights campaigner Baroness Lynne Featherstone. The weekend saw more than 150 participants tackling discrimination and harassment law in a case modelled on the Northern Irish Ashers bakery dispute, where one Oxford team emerged victorious, and the second reached the semi-final.

Ms Clara Ludot (St Hugh’s), Ms Eilis O'Keeffe (Balliol), Ms Charlotte Kelly (Balliol), and Ms Alice Irving (Merton) proceeded to the grand final of the competition against a team from BPP Law School. The panel judging the grand final consisted of: Justice Ross Cranston (Justice of the High Court, former Solicitor General), Gillian Phillips (Director of Editorial Legal Services for the Guardian News and Media Limited and Employment Tribunal Judge), Karon Monaghan QC (Barrister at Matrix Chambers), Aileen McColgan (Barrister at Matrix Chambers and Professor of Human Rights Law at King's College London), and Sarah Hannett (Barrister at Matrix Chambers). The Oxford team won the competition in the grand final, with Alice Irving being named Best Advocate.

Mr Charles Bishop (Wadham), Ms Tatiana Kazim (Harris Manchester), Mr Daron Tan (St Anne’s), and Mr Akash Sonecha (St Catherine’s) progressed as far as the semi-finals, being the only undergraduate student team to do so. They mooted against teams from BPP Law School and the University of Westminster in the semi-final and quarter-final rounds respectively.

In addition to the competition, a number of workshops on LGBT topics were run by legal experts and prominent LGBT charities, including sessions on 'Intersectionality and the Equality Act 2010' and 'Trans in the Criminal Justice System.' Proceedings came to an end with a dinner hosted at Gray's Inn, with a moving keynote address from Baroness Featherstone.