Written evidence submitted by Pride in (GRA1414)

Reform of the Gender Recognition Act Inquiry: Pride in London response

Overview

Pride in London is deeply disappointed with the lack of meaningful change for people in this week’s announcement. The government’s response also ignores the findings of the GRA public consultation, in which 70% of the 100,000 people who participated came out in support of trans people and trans rights. An overwhelming majority of respondents to the consultation supported removing the requirement for a medical report (80.3%) and removing the requirement for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria (64.1%).

While the small changes announced are welcome, they do not go far enough in ensuring trans and non-binary people can live freely and openly in the UK. We also note that there is no hint of progress towards de-medicalised self-determination of gender in this country, which Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Malta, Sweden, Norway and Belgium have all introduced in recent years without issue. The response also fails to mention non-binary people, this leads us to believe that the Government will continue to ignore the issues this community faces.

We do not feel the nominal changes make the process kinder and more straightforward as the changes are so minimal it barely moves the GRA process forward. The APPG on LGBT rights also notes that in 2015, Ireland passed an updated GRA which allowed for self- identification – there has been no negative consequences to this decision. There is, however, evidence that improving legal gender recognition for trans people increases their quality of life, dignity and safety.

More clarity is needed on:

 What the reduction in fee is and how the online process is going to be made simpler. The number of people identifying as trans in the UK does not reflect the small number who apply for the GRC. This in itself demonstrates the GRA process of not fit for purpose for the trans community in England.  Will de-medicalisation of the process be reviewed at a future date and will this process take into account the trans communities views and lived experience. Having to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria to obtain and GRC only adds to the psychological distress of going through the lengthy process of changing one’s gender legally.  The current requirement of having to live in one’s preferred gender for two years explicitly ignores non-binary and gender fluid people from the process. This length of time seems an arbitrary timeframe, which is not rooted in evidence.  A reformed statutory declaration, worded in consultation with the trans community could provide a useful way to streamline the process  Will the spousal veto be removed as this only added to the indignity of the current process. This is something an overwhelming majority of trans people feel should be removed from the process Written evidence submitted by Pride in London (GRA1414)

 The age at which someone can obtain a GRC should be reviewed. Lowering this to 16 could help speed up the process for people who want to legally change their gender. This is in line with other countries in Europe.  The reforms do not recognise the rights of non-binary and gender fluid people who will continue to feel excluded from legal protections. As stated in our overview, the proposed changes are nominal and do not go far enough to enhance the rights of trans people. They ignore the overwhelming response to the consultation and the unified voice of the LGBT community who have been calling for substantial changes to the GRA for several years. Adopting the evidence-based changes to the GRA are the only way to ensure the process is truly kinder for trans people.

The changes in England could be brought inline with the changes proposed by the Scottish government. The Scottish Government’s proposed Bill (the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill) has proposed the following changes

 To reduce the requirement of ‘living in your acquired gender’ from 2 years to 3 months, with an additional reflection period of 3 month months, so overall reducing the current requirement to 6 months  To lower the age a person can obtain a GRC from 18 to 16 years old; to abolish the current requirements for medical evidence to be submitted to a

About Pride in London

Pride in London is run by a group of volunteers who are passionate about equality and diversity. We are a not-for-profit organisation, and any surplus funds we raise are used to support the LGBT+ communities and improve the event.

Together, we run the UK’s biggest, most diverse pride, and our job is to make sure we provide a platform for every part of London’s LGBT+ communities (, , bisexual, trans*, , questioning, , non-binary, asexual, polysexual, genderqueer and gender variant people) to raise awareness of LGBT+ issues and campaign for the freedoms that will allow them to live their lives on a genuinely equal footing.

November 2020