GENDER RECOGNITION ACT

REFORM //

THE GENDER RECOGNITION ACT

“REQUIRING TRANS PEOPLE TO SUBMIT TESTIMONY FROM A SUITABLE MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL WHO CAN ATTEST THAT THE TRANS PERSON IS EXPERIENCING A MENTAL DISORDER CALLED ‘GENDER IDENTITY DISORDER.’ MANY TRANS PEOPLE FIND THIS REQUIREMENT TO STATE THE THEY ARE MENTALLY ILL IS OFFENSIVE, STIGMATISING AND OUT OF SYNC WITH HUMAN RIGHTS.”

JOHN O’DOHERTY THE RAINBOW PROJECT

IN LIGHT OF THE RECENT high-profile attacks on trans and non-binary people, their rights to recognition of who they are and their access to healthcare, we felt that it was important to give the community an update on how these issues affect trans people in Northern Ireland.

The issue which has grabbed headlines over recent times have been about potential ways to reform the Gender Recognition Act. In order to understand the reforms we have to know what the act is for and what the reforms would do. The Gender Recognition Act was brought in by the Blair government in 2004, following a judgment from the European Court of Human Rights (Goodwin v UK) the government was obligated the create a way for transgender people to change the gender marker on their birth certificate. This is the only thing that a Gender Recognition Certificate does. It allows someone to ensure that their birth certificate accurately reflects their true gender and not the way their body was described when they were born.

Why does this need reformed? Well the act needs reformed because trans and non-binary people have been highlighting the burdens that it places on them to seek approval from the state that they are who they say they are. Getting a gender recognition certificate is not easy. It requires trans people submit an application to a panel of people who get to decide whether or not they are who they say they are. It also requires trans people to submit testimony from a suitable medical professional who can attest that the trans person is experiencing a mental disorder called ‘Gender Identity Disorder.’ Many trans people find this requirement to state the they are mentally ill is offensive, stigmatising and out of sync with human rights.

We don’t believe that trans and non-binary people are mentally ill. We believe that minority experiences of gender are a perfectly normal part of human variation. We agree with the 2018 World Health Organisation announcement that transgender experiences and identities would no longer be classified as mental illness and that the newest versions of the International Classification of Disease (ICD-11), an international guideline for diagnosing diseases and other health conditions, would include ‘gender incongruence’ in a newly-created sexual health chapter. By keeping some form of gender incongruence within the ICD, the WHO is stating that transgender people should have access to medical interventions as appropriate forms of care for alleviating distressing dysphoric experiences without pathologising transgender identities in and of themselves.

We believe that the UK Gender Recognition Act should have been reformed in a way similar to how gender recognition is managed in the Republic of Ireland, which is by no means perfect, but is a vast improvement on the UK model. We believe that trans people should be permitted to make a statutory declaration of their gender without the need for a diagnosis of a mental disorder or of seeking approval from a judicial panel.

We have also recently seen a rise in myths about trans peoples’ access to gender affirming healthcare and particularly the interesting idea that young people are ‘fast-tracked’ for hormonal replacement therapy. Honestly, just speak to any trans person in Northern Ireland who can tell you how divorced from reality this notion is.

There is one gender identity clinic in Northern Ireland, based at Knockbracken outside Belfast, and it has not taken on a new client since March 2018. Even when the Northern Ireland Gender Identity Clinic was taking on new clients it had the longest waiting times of any gender identity clinic in the UK. The average waiting time for someone to be on the waiting list before even having their initial assessment was three years. Once someone starts assessment it can be well over a year before they actually start a hormone replacement therapy. Many trans people that we have worked with have had very negative experiences of the clinic and have not felt that they have been appropriately supported throughout their transition.

Trans and non-binary people deserve access to high-quality healthcare services, tailored to meet their needs and their voices need to be heard by decision-makers in the health system. Access to appropriate healthcare is a human right and we will continue to work with our partners in the LGBT sector to ensure that the right to healthcare for trans people is respected and protected in Northern Ireland.

Trans and non-binary people are under attack – and we must do everything we can to support them. Each and everyone of us has our part to play to ensure we can be allies to our trans community. We must educate ourselves, listen to and platform trans peoples stories and fight against those who would see trans rights stepped back.

Trans people are being failed – the complete lack of gender affirming health care in Northern Ireland is quite simply despicable. Many trans and non-binary people are extremely vulnerable, isolated and lacking validation from their families and communities. We must ensure that trans healthcare is accessible, supportive and led by the needs and experiences of trans people.

Trans men are men. Trans women are women. Non-binary people are non-binary.