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So, the official response to the UK's Gender Recognition Act Consultation is back. There are some positive changes, but not as many as people had hoped, and some actively worrying bits of terminology included. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/response-to-gender-recognition-act-2004-consultation?fbclid=IwAR3JRyz5ziA7qRXovrcptXA8WQDS1_FNHNXvmGyVg9WBmb3Fg4WED2JOjrs
Quick primer - In the UK, until today, trans people who want to update their birth certificate have needed to spend £140+ to apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate.
They have to send large amounts of paperwork to a shadowy secret panel, hoping to get approved.
They have to send large amounts of paperwork to a shadowy secret panel, hoping to get approved.
The process was long and cumbersome. Huge amounts of paperwork were needed, and this panel of strangers is notorious for rejecting applications without much information as to why.
You can have multiple doctors say you are trans, have been out full time for years, and get denied.
You can have multiple doctors say you are trans, have been out full time for years, and get denied.
So, trans people have been asking for years for this system to be fixed. Having to spend £140+ per attempt, to wait six months, to be told no without reason and made to start over from scratch isn't workable.
The most popular requested change has been Self ID. Basically, let trans people declare they are trans, declare they never intend to change their gender beyond this one time, and update their birth certificate without the panel's beauracracy.
Self ID is already a thing in multiple countries, and has seen zero rise in crimes from the system being misused.
To be clear, you don't need to update your birth certificate to legally be your new gender. My passport has said female for years despite my birth certificate still saying male. This largely only impacts marriage (I want to be Mrs not Mr on my wedding day) and death certificates.
So, what does the official response to the Government's Consultation say? Well, here's the bullet points.
GRC Panel will still exist, but no longer cost £140 per attempt, now a "nominal fee".
Three new Gender Identity Clinics
No Self ID
GRC Panel will still exist, but no longer cost £140 per attempt, now a "nominal fee".
Three new Gender Identity Clinics
No Self ID
So, obviously, it's good news that the financial barrier for applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate is being removed. It's still going to be a painfully slow, secretive, bureaucratic process, but at least it won't be a repetetive financial drain to work through.
New UK Gender identity Clincs is a great bit of news, assuming they are properly funded and spread across the UK geographically. Waiting lists for GIC appointments have risen to in some cases three years in parts of the UK, anything to help reduce that is a positive step.
No Self ID is no surprise. TERFS have been making this their big fight. They've been invited multiple times to speak with Lizz Truss, Equalities Minister, who never speaks with Trans people on this topic, and they repeatedly tell her "Self ID will get cis women raped".
There is zero evidence that Self ID will harm cis women. Self ID doesn't mean "decide to be a woman Monday to perv on women in changing rooms, go back to a man Tuesday for work, back to a woman Wednesday for more perving". It means "single permanent change without bureaucracy".
"We have also come to understand that gender recognition reform, though supported in the consultation undertaken by the last government, is not the top priority for transgender people. "
We're not changing this because healthcare was more important. Sorry, you only get one.
We're not changing this because healthcare was more important. Sorry, you only get one.
However, what worries me most is the following:
"The Equality Act 2010 clearly protects transgender people from discrimination. The same act allows service providers to restrict access to single sex spaces on the basis of biological sex if there is a clear justification."
"The Equality Act 2010 clearly protects transgender people from discrimination. The same act allows service providers to restrict access to single sex spaces on the basis of biological sex if there is a clear justification."
That sure sounds like Lizz Truss, the Equalities Minister, interpreting the 2010 equalities act to allow businesses to ban trans women from women's spaces on the basis of trans status.
Sounds like a legal arguement for "bans of trans women from women's refuges are acceptable"
Sounds like a legal arguement for "bans of trans women from women's refuges are acceptable"
That line being included in the GRC Consultation response should deeply concern us, and we should seek government clarification on this.
Did the government just announce that it's acceptable to ban trans women from women's spaces "if there is a clear justification"?
Did the government just announce that it's acceptable to ban trans women from women's spaces "if there is a clear justification"?
Lastly, it's important to note the 3 new GICs were actually planned years ago. Truss appears to be taking credit for an already in the works move taken by the NHS.
Also, without extra staff, those new GICs may just see existing resources spread thinner.
Also, without extra staff, those new GICs may just see existing resources spread thinner.
