An Insight into the Ongoing Struggle for Trans Rights in Ireland

women were disproportionately afected by Covid-19 was in terms of domestic abuse. Sarah Benson of Women’s Aid Ireland, discussed how abusive partners would cough on their wives in order to “weaponise” the virus and cause further distress. Calls to Women Aid reporting domestic abuse rose by 43 per cent compared to this time last year. Tat is similar to the fgures shared by the UN on how domestic violence calls increased by 30 per cent in France, 33 per cent in Singapore and 25 per cent in Argentina. Women are also putting themselves more at risk of contracting the virus than their male counterparts,which again, points to the fact women are disproportionately afected by the virus. Per the Higher Education Authority 96 per cent of nursing graduates in Ireland are female while per the UN, globally women make up 70 pre cent of the workforce. Racial Prejudice. Human rights violations. Sexism.

Tese are things that have made the pandemic that bit more difcult for some people. Please let us be mindful of it.

Michael Archer SF Law and Political Science Editor’s Note: This article contains reference to suicide, self harm and transphobia, which some readers may find distressing Until recently, Ireland was a homogenous society dominated by Catholicism. Tis afected every aspect of people’s lives, and very little was free from the interference of the Catholic Church. Ireland has since undergone seismic social changes as it gradually became a more secularised state. Tis has brought signifcant improvements in the quality of life for LGBTQ+ individuals. Te marriage equality referendum in 2015 was indicative of just how far Ireland has come as a nation as we became the frst country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote. However, despite this overt shif in social progress, the rights of trans people still go unrecognised in Ireland. Terms such as ‘non-binary’ are still absent in Irish law. Ergo, from a social perspective, the employment of correct terminology is imperative to clarify distinctions between gender identity, gender expression, sex and sexual orientation. TENI (Transgender Equality Network Ireland) emphasizes the importance of using appropriate terminology to respect individuals’ rights to self-identity. Te term ‘sex’ can be defned as the “designation of a person at birth as male or female based on their anatomy or biology”. Te term ‘gender identity’ refers to one’s deeply felt identifcation as a gender which may correspond to their assigned sex at birth. Te manifestation of one’s gender identity is referred to as ‘gender expression’. Conversely, an individual’s ‘sexual orientation’ refers to their ‘physical, romantic or emotional attraction’ to another person. A ‘trans’ or ‘transgender’ person is someone whose ‘gender identity and/or gender expression difers from the sex assigned to them at birth.’ Tese terms strive to be as inclusive as possible. Concomitantly, a non-trans person should be referred to as a ‘cisgender’ person. Tis is of great importance, because it acknowledges that everybody has a gender identity, helping to remove the stigma around trans identities by presenting them as equal to cisgender identities. Te phrase ‘non-binary’ is used as a term for “gender identities that fall outside the gender binary of male or female”. Individuals under this umbrella-term may describe themselves in various ways, ranging from ‘gender fuid’ to ‘gender variant’. We must recognize and respect the gender identity of every single individual in our country, as nobody should feel less than another person.

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Te pitfalls of our legislation relating to trans people has taken a toll on the mental health of trans individuals in Ireland. Tere is a direct correlation between mental health issues and trans people, as indicated by the comprehensive LGBT Ireland Report (2016). Tis was a national study of the mental health of LGBTQ+ people in Ireland. Te study found that 70 per cent of 14- to 18-year-old LGBTQ+ people in Ireland had seriously considered ending their own lives in the past year, with transgender people found most likely to contemplate suicide. Indicative of the victimisation of LGBTQ+ people in Ireland, 75 per cent of people said they had been verbally abused. What is even more harrowing was the fact that 1 in 4 transgender people had been physically attacked in public. Tese problems have combined to prompt a myriad of mental health issues amongst trans people. Tese issues could undoubtedly be mitigated by making our current Gender Recognition Act more inclusive by accommodating the needs of ‘non-binary people as well as those under the age of 16. Unfortunately, numerous LGBTQ+-specifc barriers exist in terms of access to mental health services in Ireland; this includes a dearth of understanding amongst mental health practitioners and a fear of misunderstanding amongst LGBTIQ+ people. Unfortunately, numerous Tis study underscores the need for progress in our tal health of the LGBTQ+ LGBTQ+-specific barriers exist country to protect the mencommunity. Evidently, our law is failing people, espe 18 and non-binary peo - - in terms of access to mental cially those under the age of ple who seem to be forgotten about. Legislative develop- health services in Ireland; this ments have only occurred recently in Ireland. One in- includes a dearth of understandspirational fgure who ofen goes unrecognised is Dr. Lydia Foy who spearheaded the transgender movement ing amongst mental health pracin Ireland over the past thirty years. Dr. Foy was born as a biological male but identifes as female. In March 1993, titioners and a fear of misunshe requested a new birth certifcate to show her fe- istrar General, which was derstanding amongst LGBTIQ+ male gender to the Irish Regrefused. She took legal action and the High Court found of its obligations under the people. the Irish state to be in breach European Convention on Human Rights under Arti- cle 8 in 2007, for its failure to recognise Dr. Foy in her female gender and to provide her with an updated birth certifcate. Dr. Foy’s case was settled in 2014 with the Irish government publishing the Gender Recognition Bill on the 19th of December. On July 15 2015, the Irish government passed the Gender Recognition Act, which allows all individuals over the age of 18 to self-declare their own gender identity. Dr. Foy became the frst individual to be recognised by this Act. Te Gender Recognition (Amendment) Bill 2017 amended the Gender Recognition Act to provide a right to self-determination for those aged 16 and above, to introduce a right to legal gender recognition for those under the age of 16 and to ensure consideration of the status of non-binary persons in Irish law. However, the Bill was never signed into law and lapsed with the dissolution of the Dáil and Seanad in 2020. Currently, under the Gender Recognition Act, people aged 16 to 17 may have their gender recognised but they must go through a complicated application process to do so. Tis Act, despite being an extremely important piece of legislation refecting a modernised Ireland, still retains its pitfalls. Under the Act, individuals aged 16 and 17 must obtain an order from the Circuit Family Court to exempt them from the minimum age requirement of 18. In accordance with section 12(4) of the Act, the Court may only grant an application to somebody aged 16 to 17 if: the individual has been granted the consent of a parent or guardian; and, in the opinion of a medical professional, the child is a) of a sufcient degree of maturity to make the decision; b) aware of the consequences of the decision; and c) has made the decision without duress or undue infuence. Te fact that the individual must be granted the consent of a parent or guardian to be considered mature enough to make the decision is completely ridiculous and hypocritical. Additionally, the child must also visit an endocrinologist or psychiatrist to certify that their decision concurs with the medical opinion of the other practitioner.

Te difculty that this section of the Act imposes on young people searching for clarity on their identities is

incomprehensible. For example, the needs of non-binary people are not discussed in the Act. Between 2015 and 2017, 297 Irish citizens were granted gender-recognition certifcates under the Gender Recognition Act; however, a mere ten of these applications were by 16- to 17-year olds. Notwithstanding the positive changes the Act has brought to the lives of those over 18, section 12(4) of the Act is a clear deterrent to trans people under the age of 18 to apply for a gender recognition certifcate. It has been reported that the government are discussing the extension of gender recognition laws to children and non-binary people which would certainly be welcomed. Tis would assuredly help to mitigate some of the mental health issues which trans people face and any piece of legislation which would do this is crucial. TENI have put in place a three-year-plan to attempt to mitigate the limitations of the Gender Recognition Act. TENI outlined four salient goals which it hopes to achieve in its ‘Strategic Plan’ from 2020-2023. One aim is to make TENI a tenable organisation “created by trans people for trans people”. Tey wish to ensure that trans people can access the services they need, and for these to be both “trans friendly and inclusive”. Te organization seeks to assure that trans people are both celebrated and valued in Ireland and can enjoy the freedoms necessary to thrive. Finally, TENI wants Ireland to move beyond trans discrimination to become a society free from the shackles of transphobia and oppression. Tough, activism will only go so far and our Gender Recognition Act must be revised. In order to assess Ireland’s legislation relating to trans people, we must compare it to the laws in other countries across the world. Transgender Europe (TGEU) published the ‘Trans Rights Europe and Central Asia Index 2020’ in May. Tis provides information on the legal situation in all 47 Council of Europe member states and fve Central Asian countries. Shockingly, 31 of these countries require a mental health diagnosis before adapting gender identity documents. Not only does this contravene every individual’s right to self-determine their gender identity; it also relies on the farcical notion that being trans is a mental illness. In 2019, the WHO (World Health Organization) removed “gender identity disorder” from their manual of diagnoses, the International Classifcation of Diseases (ICD-11). “Gender identity disorders” have now been revised as “gender incongruence.” Despite this monumental step towards equality, 13 out of the 52 nations studied in the index still require sterility in legal gender recognition. It is unfathomable that so many countries still have legislation which condones such acts of barbarism against trans people. Moreover, only one country, Malta, provides full legal recognition to non-binary people, while only one other country, Denmark, provides partial legal recognition. Tough it is apparent that our outdated legislation pertaining to trans people does not make us an anomaly, this is nothing to be Despite this monumental proud of; we must look to other countries with progres- sive transgender legislation for inspiration. step towards equality, Two of the most overt shortcomings of the Gender Recognition Act in Ireland of non-binary people, and the 13 out of the 52 nations are the lack of recognition hurdles that those under 18 must surmount before being change. To mitigate these studied in the index still granted a gender identity problems, we should strive to adopt the approach of Nor- permitting autonomous le- require sterility in legal way, which, in 2016, began gal gender recognition for people between 16 and 18. between 6 and 16 can change gender recognition. Furthermore, children aged their gender identity with parental guidance. Te Irish government should amend our Gender Recognition Act to refect both of these amendments. Regarding our Act’s lack of recognition of non-binary people, countries such as Canada and India ofer an ‘X’ on gender identity documents for gender-nonconforming individuals. Tough this may seem insignifcant for some, it is a revolutionary form of visibility and validation which must be adopted across the world. It is undoubtedly true that Ireland still has a long way to go until society sees this change in full, but TENI’s ‘Strategic Plan’ is a monumental step in the right direction. No individual should have to endure such sufering. It is the responsibility of our government to ensure that all medical professionals are sufciently trained on the cor