Despite taking two years to do so, the
Government has failed to adequately respond to
its own consultation
on reforming the Gender Recognition Act
(GRA) 2004, leaving a gender recognition process
which is unfair and overly medicalised. In its new
Report, Reform of the Gender Recognition
Act, the cross-party Women and
Equalities Committee describe the Government's
response to the 2018 consultation as 'minimal', and
calls for urgent reforms to be made to the
Act.
Drawing on evidence from both trans rights and women's rights
groups, representing voices for and against reform, the Report
considers the Government's proposed amendments to the 17-year-old
Act. Calling on Government Ministers to 'properly engage' with
the Committee's scrutiny, the Report makes a number of
recommendations for meaningfully reforming the legislation,
including the de-medicalisation of the gender recognition
process, the removal of the spousal consent provision and the
requirement to live in the acquired gender.
The Report also considers the interplay between the GRA and the
2010 Equality Act, calling for consistency across the two and for
greater clarity to be provided on exceptions, enabling employers,
service providers and sports bodies to operate with confidence
within the law.
The Committee calls on the Government to:
· Remove the
requirement of a 'gender dysphoria' diagnosis from the process of
obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate, thus de-medicalising
transition, as was supported by former Prime Minister when commissioning the
consultation. Instead, the focus must be shifted to a system of
self-declaration.
· Remove
the requirement for trans people to have lived in their acquired
gender for two years- which, says the Report, 'risks entrenching
outdated and unacceptable gender stereotypes', as well as the
need for spousal consent. Instead, the Committee recommend, the
body issuing the certificate must be given the power to issue
annulments at the same time.
· Conduct a
review on the - currently opaque - Gender Recognition Panel which
approves applications for Gender Recognition Certificates,
considering whether it would be appropriate to replace with the
Registrar General for England and Wales. In the meantime, steps
must be taken to make the operation and role of the panel more
transparent.
· Urgently
publish new guidance, incorporating worked examples and case
studies, which would clarify where single-sex and separate-sex
exceptions can be applied to the 2010 Equality Act. This is
particularly relevant where, for example, women's refuges and
other service providers are left unclear as to whether the
exclusion of trans people from certain spaces is in violation of
the law.
· Develop a
specific healthcare strategy for transgender and non-binary
people, including training for GPs around treating trans and
non-binary patients and improved access to support
services.
· Commit to
continuing to implement the LGBT Action Plan. The
Committee expressed concerns that the plan seems to have
been abandoned by the current Women and Equalities Minister, and
seek clarity as to if, and why, this is the
case.
Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, Rt Hon
,
said:
"The Government took nearly two years to respond to the
consultation on an Act that was written at the turn of the
millennium. The GRA is crying out for modernisation, and the
Government has spectacularly missed its opportunity. This is an
area of reform which has attracted strong opinions and debate,
but there are areas- such as the removal a time period for living
in an acquired gender- which many can agree on. The
Government's failure to implement even these changes- made clear
in its consultation- suggest its lack of willingness to
engage.
"Being trans is not an illness. It is imperative
that the Government de-medicalise the process of gender
recognition by removing the outdated requirement for a gender
dysphoria diagnosis. The current response to the 2018
consultation has amounted to little more than administrative
changes. We are now calling on the Government to enact real,
meaningful change."
ENDS
Notes to editors
The initial Government consultation on the 2004 Gender
Recognition Act Consultation ran from July 3rd to 22 October
2018.
It published its response on
22 September 2020.
The Women and Equalities Committee opened
its inquiry on 28
October 2020 and has received over 800 pieces of
written evidence, as well as hearing from a range of witnesses
during 4 oral evidence
sessions between March- June
2021.
