Trivial reasons to change sex on ID

[Ihuntmonsters]

Here's an article on CBC (equivalent to BBC in Canada) showing one reason why self-ID (or light touch and poorly executed medical gatekeeping) might be misused and how easy a sex change has become in a country that fully embraces 'you are who you say you are'.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/change-gender-identification-insurance-alberta-1.4754416

The guy in the article 'changed sex' to save money on car insurance. Not an issue in the UK because sex discrimination when it comes to car insurance was ruled illegal by the EU but shows that for some people at least the desire to save money / stick it to the man is enough of an incentive to make what is supposed to be a fundamental change. Making changing your birth certificate, driving licence etc an easy piece of admin means people will do it for all sorts of reasons, most of which have nothing to do with gender dysphoria.

I am worried about this. Because that way you get all the advantages of being male (because that is your bio sex and how people will perceive you) and any advantages of being legally female if you wanted to make a fuss and ‘prove’ your legal sex.

Self ID will effectively remove the protected characteristic of sex in the Equality Act. If everyone can choose their own legal sex, the protected characteristic of sex is meaningless.

that way you get all the advantages of being male (because that is your bio sex and how people will perceive you) and any advantages of being legally female

Of course, it won't work the other way around. A female person claiming to be a legal man will be perceived as female and treated as such (unless they have prolonged hormonal treatment and surgery with the accompanying health risks, but that's not the "docs-only change" scenario in the news report), but will lose out on remedial measures such as female-only spaces for safety, all-women shortlists and women's scholarships that are meant to counter structural inequality, women-only support and social spaces.

News reports like this highlight starkly how, regardless of the intent of its promoters, the result of self-id will be the removal of women's hard-won rights for the benefit of men.