It is 17 years since the Gender Recognition Act was enacted in the UK, permitting those aged over 18 to have their acquired gender legally recognised and recorded on a new birth certificate, as long as certain criteria are met. In order for an individual to have their acquired gender recognised, a person has to prove to a panel of strangers that they will never meet – the gender recognition panel – that they are either feminine or masculine. This would mean replacing the gender recognition panel, dropping the requirement to have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and to live in the acquired gender for two years. We spent months speaking to trans rights and women’s rights groups and sought to strike a path that safeguarded the rights of both. First and foremost, even with our proposed reforms, the process for an individual to have their acquired gender legally recognised is a drawn-out process, with numerous stages to go through.

Source: The Guardian December 23, 2021 21:28 UTC