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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

GRA reform: Is the legal gender recognition process really too intrusive, too costly and too difficult?

2 replies

NonnyMouse1337 · 18/02/2020 11:34

I don't remember seeing this mentioned before, but I might have missed it among other threads.

Really clear outline from Fair Play for Women of exactly what's involved in the process to obtain a GRC so that a person's sex on their birth certificate can be changed.

GRA reform: Is the legal gender recognition process really too intrusive, too costly and too difficult?

fairplayforwomen.com/grcprocess/

As someone who is a naturalised British citizen, I've been through a much more extensive process over many years via different visa categories to enable me to ultimately gain citizenship. It has cost me several thousands of pounds and I had to share quite a bit of personal information, some of which was quite intrusive.

For my fiancee visa, I had to show pictures of my partner and I from various years to prove we had been a couple for all that time. I also had to submit birthday and anniversary and valentine's Day cards along with my application so the immigration officers could see further proof that our relationship was genuine. I felt very upset at the thought of strangers going over our private exchanges of love, looking for evidence among our intimate correspondence that we were not being honest in our intentions. Still.... I did it. It felt intrusive and upsetting, but I know I am not exempt from any legal requirements decided by the country I wished to call my home.

Once we married and I had to switch to a spouse visa, I also had to submit some of our wedding photos as part of the proof with the application. Again, intrusion of privacy, but I didn't make a fuss because I understood that the process didn't indicate that I was somehow a dishonest person, but that it kept us all safe by ensuring only genuine applicants were granted visas.

In total I had been through 5 categories of UK visas and ultimately applied for British citizenship along with the naturalisation ceremony. The entire process took nearly a decade and was fraught with so much stress and anxiety because the rules and regulations kept changing every six months, plus fees increased every 3 months or so. Applications would be dismissed for the flimsiest of reasons with no refunds. The entire cost is easily into several thousand pounds.

By comparison, the GRC process is a piece of cake and considerably less rigourous in terms of assesment. PIP assessments, citizenship applications and several other types of government processes require so much more effort.

I don't see the point of GRA reform when the current process seems perfectly adequate and reasonable. Hardly onerous compared to what other citizens have to experience. Like so many other narratives pushed by Trans Privilege Activists, this idea that GRCs are so difficult to obtain and demeaning do not stand up to scrutiny.

OP posts:
AnyOldSpartabix · 18/02/2020 11:50

The problems I’ve seen online are mostly around NHS waiting times. The response to that should be to improve waiting times, not do away with the need for a diagnosis.

NonnyMouse1337 · 18/02/2020 11:56

AnyOldSpartabix - yes, I agree that NHS waiting times in general should be drastically improved, and this will also benefit trans people greatly. There should also be regular access to counselling and therapy while a trans person is on a waiting list, rather than leaving them in limbo for two years, or however long it takes, with nowhere else to go.

As you say, none of that indicates a need to do away with the entire diagnostic process and the current series of steps involved in obtaining a GRC.

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