Mendoza v Ghaidan
A tenant died. His gay partner had lived together in the property with him for several years in the same way that a heterosexual married couple would have done. But the legal rule was that succession was only permitted if the couple lived together "as husband and wife". In 1999 the House of Lords had decided that that phrase could not apply to two men or two women living together. So the landlord refused succession and was upheld in the county court.

The Court of Appeal allowed an appeal. Since October 2000, the Human Rights Act had been in force. That required legal rules about occupation of homes to be "re-read" to avoid unlawful discrimination. Discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation was unlawful. So the rule must be re-read to mean "living together as if they were" a husband and wife. On that basis, the gay partner could and did succeed to the tenancy.