yetanother - I think the change from gender reassignment to gender identity powerfully reveals the actual impact of the change if it happens.
It blurs a clear process which tells you what you are dealing with into a fuzzy concept of identity and perception, which inevitably has a far broader range of what you are dealing with and makes any law much harder to interpret years down the track.
Any discussion about changes should ponder that carefully as words mean a lot to how it will be interpreted in the future when someone might decide that identifying as a duck is covered by the law.
Such a profound change to important fundamental definitions of who and what we are as human beings needs a national debate not a government committee.
Hairyball - yes the GRA at present was well designed for its purpose and has fulfilled exactly what it set out to do.
I am perfectly happy with its checks and balances and what you have to put in in order to receive what you get out have no desire to alter it to one where you basically put in a tick in an on line box for all the same return.
That very much seems like a one way street.
I accept that many people do want it to be made cheaper and more simpler to navigate, which might well be a workable compromise if the safeguards are retained.
However, there are a lot of people wanting it to go further and several countries, including Ireland, already have self ID (though with more opt outs than in the GRA as it stands) and I do not want to be dismissive and say we should not listen to these arguments.
The world moves on and sometimes the young see things differently and are not always wrong.
But name calling and fisticuffs are not the way. We have to get past that first and many groups need to input their feelings as this cannot just be decided by the trans community. It has much wider repercussions .
I think this is presently on hold anyway as Theresa May has other things on her mind right now so I very much doubt anything will be in parliament before the next election.