GENDER RECOGNITION LAW SHOWS HOW FAR IRELAND HAS COME - BUT IN REALITY IT IS MERELY CATCHING UP - KENNY

Posted on March 5, 2015 4:56 PM   |   Permanent Link   

Speaking on the Gender Recognition Bill 2015

This legislation demonstrates how far Ireland has come in terms of social progress in recent years - but while this is a good thing, it is also the reality that Ireland is currently the only country in the EU that has no provision for legal gender recognition. So in reality, we are merely catching up.

The delay up to now in introducing gender recognition legislation has left transgender and intersex persons without formal legal status and has significantly impacted upon their ability to access basic services such as social security benefits, education and transport. The publication of this Bill marks progress. However, there are still a number of key areas which do not fully protect transgender people and their families.

The Bill will give formal legal recognition to the preferred gender of transgender persons, through the issuing of a gender recognition certificate by the Department of Social Protection. This will mean that the person's preferred gender will be fully recognised by the State for all purposes - including the right to marry or enter a civil partnership in the preferred gender and the right to a new birth certificate.

The Bill uses the term 'preferred gender' which is in line with a recommendation of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection and Education during the pre-legislative scrutiny process. This approach also facilitates applications for gender recognition from people with intersex conditions. On the whole, I believe that is a progressive Bill and I would like to see it enacted as early as possible this year, so that members of the transgender community are able to avail of the opportunity to have their preferred gender formally recognised.

Once the Bill becomes law, a person who is issued with a gender recognition certificate will be officially legally recognised by the State as being of the preferred gender from that day forward. They will be recognised in the preferred gender for all purposes, including dealings with the State, public bodies, and civil and commercial society. They will be entitled to marry a person of the opposite gender or enter a civil partnership with a person of the same gender. They will be entitled, where relevant, to a new birth certificate that shows the preferred gender and new names, if names are also changed.

The application process for gender recognition will be administered by the Department of Social Protection. Applicants will either have to have their birth registered in Ireland or be ordinarily resident here. The application process will consist of a statutory declaration by the applicant that they intend to live permanently in the new gender and a validation by the primary treating physician that the person has transitioned or is transitioning to the preferred gender.

The process will not require details of care including medical history or confirmation of a diagnosis nor will the person have to confirm he or she has been living in their preferred gender for a specific period of time prior to their application.

The Bill requires that an applicant for gender recognition be single, pending the outcome of the referendum on same-sex marriage due to take place in May 2015.

The Joint Oireachtas Committee had also recommended that the minimum age for gender recognition be reduced from 18 to 16 years. The Bill provides for applications from 16 and 17 year olds, but with significant safeguards attached which seek to balance the rights of such applicants with the need to protect their interests at a vulnerable age. In particular, it will be necessary to secure a Court order in any such cases exempting the applicant from the standard requirement of a minimum age for gender recognition of 18 years.

The ICGP have been keen to see the definition in the legislation of "primary treating medical practitioner" expanded to include General Practitioners.

I support them in this for a number of reasons. GPs are more than capable and fully qualified to fulfill the certification duties under the legislation and as well, are more than likely, going to be familiar with the circumstances of the applicant and therefore well placed to provide verification of an individual's medical transition. GPs would also be the first point of contact for most transgender people seeking healthcare, and would, I understand, monitor the medical transition after transgender people have engaged in specialist services. I believe that having a local GP involved would be of great benefit to transgender people.

Transgender people have been, and still are, marginalised in society. It is time this changed. There is more work to be done in the coming years. I strongly commend this legislation to the House.