Repeal the Gender Recognition Act 2004

Being able to change your sex on your birth certificate is madness and changing a factual historical document. Also I believe that not keeping biological sex recorded on medical records is extremely dangerous.

There is a very very small number of trans people who need to transition because of their gender dysphoria and I believe they should be supported in this.

People with gender dysphoria were able to transition and change name on all their documents before the GRA. The only difference a GRA makes is that they can now be issued with a falsified birth certificate and hide any inconvenient history.

The unclear use of sex and gender in law means that women will always be fighting for single sex spaces and fairness until we get rid of the GRA. We never needed the concept of legal gender or sex until the GRA because your sex was a material reality and no one thought that was controversial.

As it stands since the GRA was introduced 18 years ago (2004) in total only c5,000 people in the UK have a GRC. To be clear that is less than 300 a year.
I suspect most those c5,000 are very likely to have gender dysphoria rather than paraphillia’s.

It will be very interesting on 6th January 2023 (provisional date) when the ONS publish the Sexual orientation and gender identity: Census 2021 in England and Wales. This will give an up to date idea of figures assumed in 2018 to be between 200,000 and 500,000 trans people in the UK.assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/721642/GEO-LGBT-factsheet.pdf

Potentially c500,000 people in the UK rely solely on the gender reassignment protected characteristic in the EA 2010. This is self ID not the GRA.

At this stage I think focusing energies on getting clarity in the EA 2010 when biological sex applies and protection of single sex spaces is the priority.

Realistically the government is more likely to reform the GRA than repeal it, and that could include self ID. I think we need a lot more transparency and shift in the narrative before I would want the GRA to be the focus.

As I said on the other thread, whilst I firmly believe the GRA needs reform, including clear definitions and safe spaces for natal women and girls, I don’t want to get rid of it entirely. I also think the petition “Update the Equality Act to make clear the characteristic “sex” is biological sex”petition.parliament.uk/petitions/623243 is the better approach to ensure single sex spaces are for biological females.

I think there is a place for a law that recognises gender reassignment, which may include non-binary and gender fluid, which has boundaries, clear legal definitions, a detransition process, protects children from being given drugs (and surgery), protects people from having surgery without proper counselling, requires proportionality when considering alternative arrangements, requires DBS to set up processes to ensure all previous names/genders are known and searched against as part of the process, requires all public bodies (NHS, CS, LA etc.) to keep accurate records of biological sex, gender reassignment (if you have one), medical treatment etc.

There have always been, and always will be, people with gender dysphoria and the law should recognise them but draw a clear distinction from people with paraphillia’s.

GRA is only about hiding who you are. The DBS debacle should be reason enough to repeal if having laws which reflect reality and rolling back the confusion and social unrest caused in hospitals, prisons, schools, sports, refuges, shop and leisure centre changing rooms etc. isn’t enough.

Better that we provide decent mental health services to understand the reasons for wanting to transition.

Do the above and repeal the legal fiction, law should reflect reality, on the birth certificate we are male or female and that was the fact at the time the document was created.

What is the point in the GRA?

If it is illegal to discriminate against someone for how he or she is dressed then there is no need for reality to be obscured or for society to pretend.

When we get to the position of a Girl Guide Lead Commisioner like this, we need to stand up and be counted.

This is not something I would necessarily support, although I am fully against self id.

There is a very very small number of trans people who need to transition because of their gender dysphoria and I believe they should be supported in this.
That is a very small fraction of trans people today and would hardly have an impact on womans spaces.

I do not think it should be made easy for young girls or middle aged men to get a grc. Young girls often transition due to peer pressure and the fact its a current trend, and middle aged men - well major red flag.

But to repeal I think is cruel.

Better that we provide decent mental health services to understand the reasons for wanting to transition.

Thank you for sharing this I wouldn’t have known about it otherwise. It seems to be gaining signatures.

Do you understand why some feminists are campaigning against self-ID but not to repeal the GRA?

I'm a bit ambivalent and tbh not entirely sure why - possibly mere political expediency, what is most likely to succeed. However, I've signed the petition because it definitely ought to be raised and discussed - really both the petitions could do with being widely publicised so they get to the 100k mark.

There might not be strong enough appetite for repeal yet. It might be more strategic to go with awareness raising and pushing for compromise right now. The more people know about the issue, the more people come round to the idea of repeal. And the more a reasonable compromise is explored, the more glaringly obvious it is that repeal is the only answer.

You can't ask someone for a GRC so they are quite right that the GRA has always been self ID.

I've signed, the GRA is bad law.

I'll sign this. The GRA is a complete bloody mess in legal and ethical terms, and the reasons it was brought in in the first place were partially homophobic.

The switching between 'gender' and 'sex' in the Act is infuriating; and what the hell 'living in your acquired gender' is supposed to mean god only knows.

Thread with link on the Petitions board

Repeal the GRA www.mumsnet.com/Talk/petitions_noticeboard/4688427-repeal-the-gra

Yes. A much better solution though I signed both.