Why do you think so few people have applied for / acquired a GRC?

6.03 Press for Change will campaign for equal civil rights and liberties in their proper gender role to be granted to all transsexual people who fulfil the following criteria:

self definition and
permanent change of name and
living in the proper gender role and
the endorsement of appropriate medical professional(s) (e.g. G.P., psychiatrist, Gender Identity Clinic etc).

6.04 Press for Change will resist a definition of transsexual status which relies on an individual having undergone any particular medical or surgical treatment. Some transsexual people are unable to obtain treatment, are unable to receive treatment for health reasons, or do not wish to submit to unsatisfactory or expensive treatment (e.g. phalloplasty). Such persons are no less entitled to their civil rights and liberties than others.

7.00 The Methods of the "Press For Change" Campaign

7.01 Any legal method of attaining our goals is acceptable, and no particular strategy is laid down centrally, in order to encourage as much individual and grass roots activity as possible.

7.02 The following initiatives are currently being co-ordinated by the committee:

A Parliamentary Forum of M.P.s from all political parties, committed to supporting a change to the law through Parliament.

The establishment of a group of legal professionals committed to challenging discriminatory legislation through the British and/or European Courts.

The establishment of a group of medical professionals familiar with current best practice in the treatment of transsexualism, who are willing to endorse the view that transsexual people are neither insane nor perverted, but are people with an inherent intersex condition, who are generally able, if appropriately treated, of leading full and constructive lives within society.

The establishment of a group of Bishops and other religious leaders willing to support the rights of transsexual people.

The establishment of a group of supportive Members of the European Parliament.

Affiliation to the National Council of Civil Liberties.

Liaison with the Trade Unions, asking that they affiliate to Press for Change and include "gender identity" in their equal opportunities policies.

Liaison with the committee of Pride (in 1996 "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Pride" to ensure transgender people are properly represented and included in this important event.

A petition to be signed by the public and presented to the government.
Regular articles and television appearances attempting to put forward a positive image of transsexual people and highlight the injustices we suffer.

The co-ordination and dissemination of up-to-date information about transsexualism and about related civil rights and legal issues, to transgender people themselves, to the public and to relevant professionals, including the publication of books and training materials as appropriate.

The provision of leaflets, posters and a campaigning pack, free of charge to any person or organization prepared to campaign in any way on behalf of transsexual people.

The publication of regular updates on the campaign, distributed to all transsexual organizations, and to any individual or group who is actively involved, on request.
Fund-raising as necessary. Please note that all money donated goes directly to the campaign - there are no paid staff. See separate Financial Policy and Procedure.

AKW/PFC 10/06/94

archive.md/xZANn

It might seem that we have got to where we are now in the UK by some sort of accidental bumbling around by Government bureaucracy involving poor drafting of the GRA2004 and slipshod interpretation of EA2010.

Not at all.

Some people have been playing a very long game, to move things from “transsexualism” involving medical intervention to “transgenderism” based on Self-ID with no bodily modifications. The stated key to this is and ultimate aim is replacement of the legal status of objectively verifiable biological sex by the subjective feeling of “gender identity”.

Obviously, you need to go back further than 1994 as these things did not spring out of nowhere.

1994: Press For Change Mission Statement

^Statement of Aims and Objectives
The rights and liberties of transgendered people in the U.K.^

May 1994 (updated Nov. 1994, June 1996)

Press for Change is a political lobbying and educational organisation, which campaigns to achieve equal civil rights and liberties for all transsexual and transgender people in the U.K. through legislation and social change.

Transsexual : A transsexual is a person having the physical characteristics of one sex and the psychological characteristics of the other. [New Oxford Dictionary 1992]

[Mission Statement 1995]

1.00 Introduction

1.01 Transsexual people are those whose gender identity is not congruent with their apparent physical gender. A "male-to-female" transsexual is a person who feels herself to be female, although apparently physically male. A "female-to-male" transsexual is a person who feels himself to be male, although apparently physically female. A transsexual person who is living in the gender role which feels correct to them will be said to be living in his or her "proper" gender role.

1.01 Transsexualism (sometimes also referred to as a form of Gender Dysphoria or Gender Identity Disorder) is now widely recognized as a congenital medical condition capable of moderation by medical and surgical treatment. Such treatment seeks to alter as far as possible the individual's body, in order to enable the person to live as comfortably as possible in his or her proper gender role.

1.03 Transsexualism is treated under the National Health Service, generally through both long standing and newly established Gender Identity Clinics, and increasingly on a local level by GPs.

1.04 The syndrome is described authoritatively by Prof. John Money (Baltimore), Prof. Louis Gooren (Amsterdam), Prof. Milton Diamond (Hawaii), Prof. Dr. Cohen-Kettenis (Utrecht) and Dr. Reid (London), amongst other specialists in an expanding field.

1.05 Six international medical experts under the leadership of Dr. Reid collaborated in the production of the document Transsexualism, the current medical viewpoint, published by Press for Change in March 1996 (ISBN 0 9527842 0 3). The document makes recommendations for the appropriate diagnosis, treatment and legal status to be offered to transsexual people, which are fully supported by Press for Change.

1.06 Some indications from recent work point to transsexualism originating pre-natally, possibly as a result of a genetic disorder. Transsexualism is now ranked with other congenital medical conditions which may not present symptomatically at birth, but become apparent to subjects from their earliest awareness.

2.00 Legal background

2.01 From as early as 1944 until 1970 support was provided at law: birth certificates were annotated, marriage was legal, and the rights of citizens under detainment and imprisonment were assured.

2.02 In the case of Corbett vs.Corbett in 1970, Arthur Corbett gained a ruling that his marriage to a woman who was a male-to-female transsexual was null and void, on the grounds that his partner was male. Although this ruling was for the purposes of marriage only, it has since been used in all circumstances in which gender is legally relevant.

2.03 Following this precedent, the rights of transsexual people who have adopted their proper gender role have been eroded with the result that, for example:

Marriage (of a male-to-female transsexual to a man, or a female-to-male transsexual to a woman), is unlawful. Because of the inability to consummate the marriage, "same sex" marriages for gay couples would be liable to annulment. Thus no transsexual people may marry.
The originally-recorded incorrect gender remains on all National Insurance and hence Benefits Agency and Department of Employment computer records, where unless inconvenient "restricted access" is requested, it may be on show to anyone who accidentally views the screen.
Adoption and fostering of children are effectively prohibited by statute and case law.

Access to children is infrequently granted (case law).

Employment rights are adversely affected (many recorded examples).

Detainment and imprisonment rights are not assured.

Rape of male-to-female transsexual women is not chargeable as such.

Transsexual people are open to prosecution for using public toilets appropriate to their proper gender.

The originally-recorded gender should legally appear on death certificates.

Personal privacy is grossly invaded in many ordinary life situations because of the need to present a birth certificate as proof of identity (many examples in law, employment, education, insurance etc.).

2.04 Transsexual people also face prejudice, discrimination and misunderstanding within society, with the result that:

Transsexual people are generally barred from entering or remaining in many professions, including teaching or other work with children, the armed forces, and the church.

Some transsexual people are refused medical and surgical treatment for their condition on the National Health Service.

Little research on transsexualism has been funded, with the result that: official estimates of numbers of people affected by the syndrome are probably far too low(especially with regard to female to male transsexuals) and many people including medical professionals remain ignorant of the syndrome.
Transsexual people are easily exploited by the media, by blackmailers and by people posing as medical professionals or counsellors.

3.00 The U.K. compared with the rest of the world

Three levels of support and care exist worldwide for transsexual people who have adopted their proper gender. The U.K. is at the bottom of the scale.

3.01 Level 1: Legislative Support

Births and deaths legislation provides for the reissue or amendment of the birth certificate on production of medical evidence. Full legal status is given. e.g. Germany, U.S.A. (most states), Canada, Scandinavia, Holland, Turkey, S. Australia.

3.02 Level 2: Support at Law

Application to the courts provides a change of birth certificate or issue of a new identity card on production of medical evidence. Full legal status is given. e.g. France, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Finland

3.03 Level 3: No Legal Support

Selective change of documentation is permitted on production of medical evidence, leading to many anomalies in personal and legal status. No legal rights are granted in marriage, employment or imprisonment. e.g. Singapore, New Zealand (at present, but currently legislating), Ireland, U.K.

4.00 "Press For Change" campaigning

In the light of the above injustices, the "Press for Change" Campaign will work towards achieving the following rights and liberties for all transsexual and transgender people in the U.K.:

4.01 The right to live in their proper gender role without harassment, ridicule or discrimination

4.02 The right to privacy regarding an individual's personal medical history and transsexual status. This would include the removal of the record of the originally-recorded incorrect gender from National Insurance and other computer records.

4.03 The right to equal access to appropriate medical and surgical "gender reassignment" treatment on the National Health Service, as for any other medically recognized condition.

4.04 The right to marry in the individual's proper gender.

4.05 The right to found a family, including the right to equal access to fertility treatment on the National Health Service,and equal rights to foster and adopt children.

4.06 The right of a female-to-male transsexual to be named as the father of a child on its birth certificate, in the same way as is currently possible for a non-transsexual person who is the effective father of the child.

4.07 The right of transsexual people who are the parents of children (by birth, fostering or adoption) to obtain access to their children in the event of divorce or separation by the same criteria as those used for non-transsexual people.

4.08 The right not to be refused employment, discriminated against in employment, or dismissed from employment on the grounds of wishing to have, or having undergone, gender reassignment.

4.09 The right to enter a chosen profession on the same basis as non-transsexual people.

4.10 The right to have transsexual status taken into account when being sentenced, so that a non-custodial sentence is given whenever permissible, because of the additional difficulties faced by transsexual people in prisons.

4.11 The right (when applicable) to be sent to a prison appropriate to the individual's proper gender, whether pre- or post-treatment, if he or she has been previously living in this gender.

4.12 The right to continue to receive medical treatment for transsexualism whilst in prison.

4.13 The right to a death certificate and burial/cremation in the individual's proper gender and name.

5.00 Aims of the "Press For Change" campaign

5.01 Press for Change will campaign for the rights and liberties of all transsexual and transgender people in the U.K., whether male-to-female or female-to-male, and whether pre- or post-medical or -surgical treatment.

5.02 Press for Change will offer support and advice wherever possible to individual transsexual and transgender people whose natural rights and liberties are challenged or denied within society or by current repressive legislation.

5.03 Press for Change will seek to gain the support and assistance of individual transsexual and transgender people and of organizations which network or support transsexual and transgender people, and to co-ordinate campaigning initiatives to ensure we all work together.

5.04 Press for Change will seek to gain support for its campaign from members of the public, and from the media, medical, legal, religious and political professionals and others in a position to exert influence or to make changes to policies or laws.

5.05 Press for Change may work and co-operate, where appropriate, with other minority or oppressed groups campaigning for civil rights and liberties, and will respect the rights and liberties of all other members of society.

5.06 The ultimate aim of the campaign is to achieve equal civil rights and liberties, and freedom from prejudice and discrimination for all transsexual people as outlined above.

6.00 The goals of the "Press For Change" campaign

6.01 The final goal of the campaign is to achieve full legal recognition of transsexual people in their proper gender roles. The immediate goal of the campaign is to obtain as many rights and liberties for transsexual and transgender people as possible through any possible avenues, including any or all of the following:

Recognition in Parliament of the need for a method of granting transsexual people the same rights as other citizens, for example by the use of the passport or the "short form" birth certificate (currently used in adoption) as a document of equivalent status to a birth certificate, which would confer on transsexual holders the same rights as any other member of their proper gender.

The setting of precedents in U.K. courts, tribunals and other legal forums, which are favourable to transsexual people.

The challenging, whenever possible, of the British Government's treatment of transsexual people in the European Courts.

6.02 Press for Change is concerned that in securing the rights of some transsexual people, it could simultaneously further marginalize others. It will therefore be stressed throughout the campaign that the absolute criterion for transsexual status should be self definition.

(Part 1)

A GRC does not change your legal right to access any spaces, including prisons.

Because a male without a GRC wouldn't be automatically allocated to a women's prison, but a male with a GRC would.

This is the UK Government info on how to apply for a GRC:

“Apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate”

Overview

Apply to the Gender Recognition Panel for a Gender Recognition Certificate if you want your acquired gender to be legally recognised in the UK.

There are 3 different ways (‘routes’) to get a certificate - which one you use depends on your situation.

Read the full guidance before you apply.

Standard route

Apply by the standard route if all the following are true:

you’re 18 or over

you’ve been diagnosed with gender dysphoria (discomfort with your birth gender) - this is also called gender identity disorder, gender incongruence or transsexualism

you’ve lived in your acquired gender for at least 2 years

you intend to live in your acquired gender for the rest of your life

Alternative route

Apply by the alternative route if all the following are true:

you’re 18 or over

you’ve been diagnosed with gender dysphoria or had surgery to change your sexual characteristics

you live in England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland most of the time

you intend to live in your acquired gender for the rest of your life

you’re in (or have been in) a protected marriage or protected civil partnership before 10 December 2014 (16 December 2014 for Scottish marriages and civil partnerships)

you’ve lived in your acquired gender for at least 6 years before 10 December 2014 (16 December 2014 for Scottish marriages and civil partnerships)

A marriage or civil partnership is protected if it’s one of the following:

registered under the law of England, Wales or Northern Ireland

a marriage solemnised in Scotland
a civil partnership registered in Scotland

a marriage registered under the law of a country or territory outside the UK

a marriage on UK consular premises or in an armed forces base, if you elected England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland as the relevant part of the UK

Overseas route

Apply by the overseas route if your acquired gender has been legally accepted in an ‘approved country or territory’ and you have documents to prove it.

You must be 18 or over.

Continued at:

www.gov.uk/apply-gender-recognition-certificate

Please read the rest of the info available at that link if you do not know how the system works in the UK.

The entire guidance can be printed out here:

www.gov.uk/apply-gender-recognition-certificate/print

There has been some misinformation in previous posts, maybe not deliberate but people going from guesswork, memory or inaccurate information posted elsewhere. If we can stick to the info published by Government it will avoid any further confusion.

"The EA is confused. They make no mention of birth certificates. and there is no legal requirement to produce a GRC. So the answer " I don't have a GRC " ( they burnt it 🙂) " but here is my birth certificate" to prove sex, makes the EA rule unworkable."

The birth certificate isn't used as proof of birth sex for these cases. A BC isn't used as proof of sex for anything, actually. It's not even used as ID.

""Initially allocated to the part of the estate which matches their legally recognised gender" means that a man with a GRC making him legally female will go to a women's prison, doesn't it? What on earth else could it mean?"

Only after the safeguarding process that's on the same document has taken place.

The EA is confused. They make no mention of birth certificates. and there is no legal requirement to produce a GRC. So the answer " I don't have a GRC " ( they burnt it 🙂) " but here is my birth certificate" to prove sex, makes the EA rule unworkable.

I think you might be looking at the wrong judgement. That's not what it says.

From paragraph 101 of the ECHR judgment (link in my previous post).

The applicant in this case lives as a woman, is in a relationship with a man and would only wish to marry a man. She has no possibility of doing so. In the Court's view, she may therefore claim that the very essence of her right to marry has been infringed.

(This is slightly different from what I quoted before, which came from a summary of the case rather than the actual judgment)

This is the ase that sparked the GRA. Maybe you're looking at some other case with the same name?

Another poster has already replied to this with quotes from your link, but if you want to see the full judgment, it's here, on the site of the European Court of Human Rights.

Christine Goodwin v. the United Kingdom

And the GRA was very much about marriage, as this Twitter thread shows (posted earlier by Datun).

mobile.twitter.com/HairyLeggdHarpy/status/1049290829716541443

Screenshot from Hansard from that link.

And the only misinformation on this thread is coming from you InfoRelish.

However, all individuals who are transgender must be initially allocated to part of the estate which matches their legally recognised gender(or best-known evidence where legal gender is not known).

"Initially allocated to the part of the estate which matches their legally recognised gender" means that a man with a GRC making him legally female will go to a women's prison, doesn't it? What on earth else could it mean?

A GRC, as a recognition of a legal fiction, is similar to a legal adoption.
In one way, you can see this as a case in which there is not as much NEED to have the legal fiction recognised (children need a legal parent, but adults can get along in everyday life with a new name and possibly a new driving licence).

This also means there's less at stake in declaring yourself "now the opposite gender" or "now a child of X" (or in declaring a child to be this). There are specific legal obligations that go along with being a legal parent. Not so with being legally the opposite gender.

the letter of any law and the spirt of any law can be different to enacted reality of a law when someone has motivations that were not intended under any particular law. Gobbledegook but there's sense in that sentence.

Laws may need to be more specific when "ways round" etc have been highlighted by the living with the law in day to day life. So hanging on the particular wording is one thing, the lived reality and whether things need to be redrafted to firm up ambiguous areas which are being abused is where a lot of things are playing out in reality.

Maybe you're looking at some other case with the same name?

Have you read the article you just linked to?

the applicant complained about her treatment in relation to employment, social security and pensions and her inability to marry

[...]

ECtHR found a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights; a violation of Article 12 (right to marry and to found a family);

[...]

The Court also found no justification for barring the individual due to her being transgender from enjoying the right to marry under any circumstances. It concluded that there had been a breach of Article 12.

And yet you're saying "Goodwin v United Kingdom had nothing to do with marriage."? And "there's a lot of misinformation flying around this thread"?

There's a lot of misinformation flying around this thread - but the actual prison guidance for the treatment of transgender people states very clearly:

Additional structured risk assessments and resources are required before a person is allocated or transferred to part of the estate which does not match their sex assigned at birth, including where a person has gained legal recognition of the gender with which they identify.

Page 9, here:
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/863610/transgender-pf.pdf

A GRC does not change your legal right to access any spaces, including prisons.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodwin_v_United_Kingdom

This is the ase that sparked the GRA. Maybe you're looking at some other case with the same name?

Page 9:

"Additional structured risk assessments and resources are required before a person is allocated or transferred to part of the estate which does not match their sex assigned at birth, including where a person has gained legal recognition of the gender with which they identify."

Fizzydrinks123 to change gender marker on an existing passport, you need to show one of the following:

1. GRC
2. New birth certificate or adoption certificate, showing your new acquired gender
3. Letter from doctor or medical consultant saying gender change likely to be permanent.

One of these things is not like the others. I believe if you can’t persuade your GP to write the letter, Mermaids will do it for you. People are getting this done for their ‘trans’ kids, some as young as 4.

"change of gender that is intended to be permanent"

That's my point, if the 'change of gender' is permanent, how is it possible for individuals to have some id stating that they are male, and some female for years on end?

These people are using the concept that they could in theory get a grc, change some id, but not others.

@debbieinbirmingham - thank you for that.

I'm sure others reading but not posting will find those posts useful too.

The way things come about and "seem" isn't necessarily where anyone intended them to be (unintended consequences etc) so it very helpful to learn what the perceived "good motivations" were that start a particular journey.

Returning to the motivations can help filter out people with bad motivations who hitched a ride in plain sight and have different reasons for imposing their view whilst also claiming to be "virtuous" (ie. Owen Jones springs to mind).

Hi @Fizzydrinks123. The privacy element was privacy from officialdom. Under the GRA it is an offence to disclose someone's transgender status in an official capacity. The marriage element is different.

If I were applying for a first UK passport, I could send in my birth cert (male) and a letter from my GP explaining my "change of gender that is intended to be permanent", and the passport would come back with a female marker.

What seems to bother the authorities more is not consistency with birth certificates, but other passports of dual nationals. It seems to be forbidden to be male on one and female on another. That has been a problem for trans people with one passport issued by a jurisdiction that won't change the marker.

that's helpful to hear @debbieinbirmingham - can I ask re. "the right to privacy" you mentioned - is the thinking that a person marrying someone may not known they were born a different biological sex than they present post surgery?

If that's the case then I don't think that's good as it one person's right to privacy is another's right to facts being withheld?

It would be ok in plain sight and both partners know one another's history, but without both being aware then it would store up problems that may come to bite one day. I like to think "truth sets you free" etc and informed choices are made with full knowledge.

It is difficult to understand all the different terminology and sorry if this is boring/obvious question for most others.

Personally, I was a bit muddled with the idea of birth certificate and passport needing to show the same thing, as you need to supply birth certificate for a passport - so it isn't the case and a passport can reflect personal choice? Sorry again, just trying to grasp as seems contradictory from an uninformed person's point of view.

The GRC was meant to protect the privacy of people who had made a surgical and medical transition, and also allow them to marry. That was it. Everything else (passports etc) was already in place.

It is now being used to displace biological sex as the definition of what it means to be a woman.

If it were not for the Article 8 (right to privacy) of the ECHR, I would campaign to abolish the GRA. But as long as we are members of the Council of Europe, that would be a futile campaign. This needs to go back to Europe so that the interpretation of Art8 is modified.

Without the GRA, would it be possible for so many men to change some of their sex markers and proudly state that they have no intention obtaining a GRC?

I think this is a really interesting question. Presumably the identity document is based on someone really believing they should be a woman. That should filter through to all aspects of their life.

I completely don't understand how someone can have a passport or driving license stating they are female when they are actually male. And they simultaneously have a marriage certificate based on being a man.

None of this makes any sense. The initial lie should never have crept in.