A leaked document suggests the UK government is considering backtracking on a position it took under Theresa May two years ago.
In 2018 a consultation was launched about a proposal that people could change their legal gender by “self-identifying” as male or female, without the need for a medical diagnose of gender dysmorphia.
The Sunday Times said it had seen a leaked white paper which suggested Boris Johnson is set to do a U-turn.
The Conservative Party literally spent two years on a consultation for the Gender Recognition Act, then completely ignored it because they didn't like the results pic.twitter.com/gbEcMGXdXK
— Sam ✌️ (@samisam147) June 13, 2020
Out of an estimated 200,000 trans people in the UK, only 4,910 had successfully applied for a changed birth certificate since the legislation was introduced under the last Labour government.
Nancy Kelley, Chief Executive of the LGBT pressure group Stonewall said if the newspaper report turned out to be accurate it was "extremely disappointing."
She said: "Trans people face a huge amount of abuse in their daily lives, just for being themselves. Across issues like access to healthcare, fair treatment in the justice system and the ability to have their voices and stories heard in public life, trans people experience profound inequalities."
The Sunday Times said the revised legislation, which would be put before Parliament later this year, would include a ban on “gay cure” therapies, which is said to be a sop to LGBT campaigners.
Under the Gender Recognition Act 2004, trans people have to self ID, and socially live in their defined gender for two years in order to gain a GRC. This includes toilets. That’s why the leaked plans in the Sunday Times don’t make any sense. A thread of thoughts: https://t.co/ZwgZmnEDKD
— Benjamin Cohen (@benjamincohen) June 14, 2020
The government will also set out safeguards to stop female public lavatories and changing rooms being used by those with male genitals.
The row over whether transgender woman with male genitals are women echoes last week’s row between Harry Potter creator J K Rowling and actors Daniel Radcliffe and Heather Watson over the author’s allegedly transphobic remarks.
Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds told Sky TV: “I’m not sure the government scrapping plans and then leaking it out in a newspaper is the way to deal with this.”
More than 1000 people have already signed our petition calling on the government to deliver on its promise to deliver progressive reform of the Gender Recognition Act. We will not accept that this change is not coming. Sign our petition here: https://t.co/IzIfTpJA5a
— LGBT+ Labour (@LGBTLabour) June 15, 2020
Equalities minister Liz Truss is set to bring the new white paper before Parliament next month.
