The Gender Recognition Act: What's Actually Happening

In 2020, COVID-19 hit the UK, a disease that continues to affect and destroy lives worldwide. For transgender and non-binary people, 2020 was also the year their hopes and dreams for a better future were knocked back by UK governments refusal to reform the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) for the better.

In 2017, the Government laid out plans to enable transgender people to self-identify as their true gender. Under this legislation, transgender people would be able to change their gender marker to male or female on their birth certificate, without a medical diagnosis, making their transition far easier. Instead, in 2020, Boris Johnson’s government promised only superficial changes, like reducing the cost of a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) from £140 to what they call a ‘nominal amount.’ Such changes are but a child’s patronising sticking plaster on much deeper wounds on a flawed system that they fail to improve.

Self-identification would improve the lives of so many transgender and non-binary people in the UK. It would give them confidence that society recognises and respects who they are. It would give trans people more agency, and allow them to feel more in control of their lives. Current legislation dictates that a person must have a medical diagnosis before they can seek a GRC. More than that, they must also be out in society, living in their gender for two years before they can even apply for a certificate. (However, we must note for any transgender people that, in the UK, you do not need this certificate to change your gender marker to male or female on your passport)

For non-binary people, the Gender Recognition Act is abysmal. Put simply; the Government refuses to recognise that non-binary identities exist. To this day, non-binary people in the UK are made to put either male or female on their birth certificates and passports. Forced to identify as something they are not. The Government’s scrapping of significant improvements to the GRA shows their impertinence for gender identities outside their narrow scope of thought, and their unwillingness to accept positive change.

Every day, cisgender people do not need to worry about being recognised for the gender they identify as. They do not need to worry about their teachers or colleagues refusing to use their correct name and pronouns. These problems affect transgender and non-binary people only. The Government continues to accept precedent that transgender and non-binary people should not be respected and acknowledged for who they are. Until changes are made, cisgender, transgender, and non-binary people alike, should continue to amplify their voices, and pressure this Government to take real, tangible action.

GLOSSARY

Transgender - An umbrella term for anyone whose gender identity does not match their sex and/or gender assigned at birth.

Non-Binary - Existing or identifying outside the sex/gender binary, being neither man nor woman, or being on partially or a combination of these things.

Cisgender - A person whose gender identity is the same as their sex and/or gender assigned at birth.

Definitions sourced from "The ABC's of LGBT+"by Ash Hardell