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ON 14 JULY last year Social Protection Minister Joan Burton launched a report on legally recognising transgender persons. The Minister said gender recognition legislation would be given high priority. A year later the Government has not produced even the heads of a Bill on this issue.
Ireland is now in clear defiance of a High Court judgment that said the law on transgender persons was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. And this country is now one of only a tiny handful of European states that still do not recognise transgender people.
It is now just over 15 years since transgender woman Lydia Foy began a legal action to get a new birth certificate as a woman. Ten years later the High Court ruled in her favour, using a new statute that brought the European Convention on Human Rights into Irish law.
Judge Liam McKechnie, later promoted to the Supreme Court, ruled that Ms Foy’s rights under the European Human Rights Convention had been breached and granted the first ever declaration that Irish law on this issue was incompatible with the Convention. The Government appealed but dropped their appeal three years later and accepted that the law had to be changed.
They set up a Gender Recognition Group to advise on draft legislation. It took a year to report – the report that was launched last year. And in a recent parliamentary answer the Minister said she could not yet indicate when legislation was likely to be introduced.
This has all been deeply distressing to Lydia Foy, who has struggled so long for legal recognition and has had her hopes raised and dashed again several times in the five years since the High Court ruled in her favour in 2007. It is also distressing for the few hundred transgender people in Ireland, who felt that at last they were about to be accepted by society and would be able to live without the constant fear of embarrassment or worse whenever they were asked to produce their birth certificates.
Is this about marriage?
The Government’s failure to deliver on this issue threatens to undermine the European Convention on Human Rights Act of 2003, which was enacted to make the Human Rights Convention more accessible to people whose rights were being denied. When the High Court issued a declaration of incompatibility, that was supposed to trigger a process whereby the Government would change the law. But if the Government fails to respond to the first declaration of incompatibility to be made, the public can have little confidence in the effectiveness of this new procedure.
It has been suggested that the delay in bringing in new legislation is due to concern that if the State recognises transgender persons who are already married it would amount to recognising same sex marriages. The Gender Recognition Advisory Group proposed that married transgender persons should be required to divorce before they could be recognised in their acquired gender.
It is hard to take this seriously. The number of people involved is tiny. To force them to divorce if they do not want to would be contrary to the law, which requires that a marriage must have irretrievably broken down before a divorce can be granted. Any such provision, if enacted, would be immediately challenged. And same sex marriage is likely to become law within a few years anyway.
Lydia Foy has waited 15 years for justice for what the Government itself accepts is a violation of her rights. If legislation to remedy this situation is not introduced without delay, she will have no option but to take further legal action to vindicate her rights. It should not have to be that way. The Government should introduce legislation forthwith. They will have to do it eventually anyway.
Michael Farrell is the senior solicitor with Free Legal Advice Centres, which has represented Lydia Foy throughout her long legal battle.
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The government’s inaction could be as simple as inability and incoherence. They’re concentrating on the financial crisis and can’t focus on anything else.
Don’t take it personally, they’re just a little but useless.
but>bit
The economy is not an end in itself: it’s a function of human society.
Don’t tell me.
That turns into an excuse after a while. The financial crisis is only so old but they’ve been dodging human rights issues for a lot longer. This would cost very little time and money. The reason they do nothing is because the main political parties are pretty conservative as are a sizable proportion of the population. I agree they are a little bit useless but they seem to like it that way; if people think you are thick they won’t bate the tar out of you for doing a poor job. The amount of stuff from the Human Rights Convention that they simply ignore is unreal.
So there.
The article is wrong when it says there are hundreds of us in Ireland. There are thousands of us. Most are in hiding, terrified to go out and be themselves for fear of abuse and violence, both of which are common in a trans persons life. Most of us live in constant fear when out in public, we get stared at all the time, others choose to verbally abuse us, others choose to physically abuse us.
Personally, I struggle to find the courage to go outside, so I spend most of my time at home, I rarely go out and only then with a group of friends. I’ve been fired from so many jobs because I’m trans, even though I’m exceptional at my job. I’ve spent a life moving from place to place as most times when I came out as being a trans woman people turned on me. Eventually the violence and physical abuse became too much, it was then I decided I couldn’t live anymore. Fortunately I didn’t succeed and eventually found friends and support and am piece by piece finding the stronger and courage to be me. unfortunately some of the physical or mental scars will never heal, but that’s OK, I can deal with them. what I can’t deal with is the fact my own government won’t recognised me, I can’t accept that even though medical experts worldwide agree that this is a medical condition and not a mental illness. For God’s sake, our lives are hard enough, why does our government have to make it harder!
Beautifully said. Thank you for sharing. People need to understand the realities of the difficulties you face. Some still believe you are making a choice, but nobody would CHOOSE to willingly put themselves through that if the could help it. Transgender men and women are among the bravest people in the world and your strength should be commended. I hope life gets better for you in the future. Im glad you have a good support group of friend. Please remember for the few who taunt and abuse there are many many more that care about you and want things to be better.x
stacey im so sorry for your hardship it is a disgrace that this is not being dealt with keep up the fight and people yes there are a lot in this country to be sorted out but it seems that nothing is being dealt with the government have to start making decision and to make sure they are followed up on
Well said stacey :D
You are correct but the number of open, “visible” trans people is very small. Its very easy to ignore anybody you cannot see.
This is political parties fearing fallout from their conservative grey voters yet again. Just put it all to the people (including gay marriage) if you don’t have the stomach to legislate the precedent of the judiciary.
“On many previous occasions I have outlined the reasons why it is necessary for us to proceed to sign this Statutory Instrument in order to ensure compliance with our obligations under EU law”
Why is the current government ignoring this issue when they rammed the Irish SOPA down our throats based on the same principle? In one case, Labour TD Sean Sherlock claims that tey HAD to implement the Irish version of SOPA, trampling on the rights of Irish citizens at the behest of companies in America who own the rights to music, yet when an even more egregious violation of EU law is even highlighted by our high court as a violation of human rights of Irish citizens the same government remains quiet and ignores the issue?
Either our government is not for equality and is not really behind LGBT rights OR they lied about their reasons for forcing SOPA through and were actually influenced by the American companies which lobbied to get that legislation through. Which is it?
Yet again the government feel that they can pick and choose which high courts decisions they decide to follow up with. When will they learn it doesn’t work like that?
Where is Abortion legislation to define when Abortions can legally occur?
Where is Capacity legislation, other than the 1871 Lunacy Act?
And now the poor transgender community have to suffer their whole lives, go through painful surgeries and lots of counselling, not to be recognised?
I want to live in a modern Ireland where people can be themselves, and be their happiest selves.
How can the murder of unborn babies make anyone happy Sinead? Are we prepared to kill our unborn all in the name of equal rights.This so called modern Ireland you hope for sounds a very dangerous place for the unborn. Can you answer me, will they be entitled to be born into a loving environment.
John, your objection is a little narrow don’t you think? and surely one for the olympic committee not the courts?
Also, pretty simply the change in law is to reflect the difference between a persons physical body, and thrrefore whats on their birthceer, and their gender, a persons birthcert is not the sum total of who they are and no one has the right to claim it is. Don’t presume to be so reductive about another persons life. Nobody requires that you understand it or even believe in it, just that you respect those for whom the governments inaction is extremely upsetting. Cop on.
Can I then choose to be a cat? Just cuz my birth cert and the perceptions of others who I can quickly deem as bigots to my unique cause.
Jonno – transgender people do NOT choose their gender. There are numerous psychiatric and psychological hoops that trans people must go through before accessing healthcare to make sure that it isn’t a choice, and to make sure that the person is psychologically sound enough to go through transition.
There is scientific evidence which shows that trans people’s brains are a mismatch to our bodies. In other words, whereas my body says “male”, my brain is screaming at me “female”. And trust me – it is a scream, and I tried long and hard to ignore it.
Transition is, by its nature, an extremely difficult thing (obviously!), emotionally, psychologically and socially. NO-ONE in their right mind would “choose” it. It takes a MINIMUM of about 2-3 years hard slog, and sometimes much longer.
The difference there Jonno is choice. You can choose to be a cat if you want, but that is entirely different to a person who is transgender. I totally support your right to be a cat, but this is a completely different situation so I’m not going to argue with you on it, and I’m pretty sure you’re just trolling.
I don’t get why they should change their birth certificate. your birth cert is an official record of your sex when you are born, not your gender. passport and drivers licence and other forms of current ID sure but the is it not in the inrest of accurate record keeping to only record the facts? facts cannot be changed retrospectively. I support a person’s right to changer their gender btw.
red thumbs for common sense??
But your birthcert isnt used as a record, its used as a method of identfication, so when someone comes and asks to see your birthcert and your passport and they dont match theres instantly a problem
your birth certificate is a record of your birth signed by the registrar same as marriage cert. etc. it cannot be used as identification in most circumstances as there is no picture on it. you can change your gender but you cannot change the sex you were born.
Joy,
Your birth cert IS used as a document of identity – for example, when getting a passport, when getting married or civilly partnered.
Also, a trans person’s sex as recorded on their birth cert is plain wrong, so I don’t see what the big deal is about introducing legislation to correct such an important document.
there is a difference between sex and gender. your sex is determed by biological factors that are medically relevent and worth recording accurately
Joy,
First, not everyone is born with a readily determinable “sex” – there are various conditions that cause doctors to make errors in determining someone’s “sex”.
Second, there are different kinds of medical “sex” – there is the chromosomal, the gential, and what science is now calling the “brain sex”. And someone can simultaneously have more than one of those sexes.
But most importantly – why on earth is it important to record whether one was born with what looked more like a penis than a clitoris?!
correct, there are various medical conditions, however rare, that can blur the line between sexes. and they should be accurarly recorded also. sex is most accuratly determed through genetic testing. you can cut bits off and add things on and live your life as which ever person you feel is the real you but you can’t change your genes, unfortunately. and the medical implications of male/female are much further reaching than just having a penis or a clitoris. I get the impression this is an emotive subject for you. when emotions are involved, often logical thinking goes out the window. my point is, its great that we live in a time with the medical advancements to afford people a choice to live as they see fit, but you can’t change the past. changing the sex on a birth cert does not make it true that you were born your reassigned gender.
Joy,
So someone born with a clitoris and a womb, who sees themselves as female, who naturally develops breasts in puberty, but who has XY genes (it’s called Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome), should be recorded as male?!
What should those who are born XXY, or XXYY, or any other such combination be recorded as?
The fact of the matter is that no matter what way you cut it, it isn’t physically possible to determine someone’s gender at birth. So there will always be errors on birth certs so long as those certs record gender, which means that there will always be a need for gender recognition legislation.
Also, I’m not living “as I see fit” – I’m living the only way someone who was born with a female brain can live. I tried very very hard for a very very long time to live as male. This isn’t a “choice” – I don’t “want” to be female. The fact of the matter is that in the most important of ways there is (namely the sense of self that my female-since-birth brain gives me) I am female. And it is very very wrong for my birth cert to say otherwise.
Well Said Deirdre!
Well, Deirdre, according to the leftie Gender-Is-A-Social-Construct crew, you weren’t “born with a female brain” at all as gender is due to social conditioning.
It’s must be some lovely Orwellian double-think that feminists can believe that Gender-Is-A-Social-Construct while also believing that the transgendered are born with the wrong gender. Or perhaps they just don’t think about it.
(I don’t believe it myself, it’s a political theory with no basis in science).
Ruth,
There are many different types of gender. Genetic gender is a gemetic construction. Biological gender is a biological construction. And social gender is a social construction.
Feminism isn’t wrong to bring attention to the social construct that is social gender. What is wrong is to say that social gender is the only type of gender there is.
Nothing very “saintly” at all about your sneering tone, Ruth. Deirdre has articulated her reality brilliantly and maintained immense dignity in the face of being patronised by you and Joy. This set of responses alone should give you the tiniest glimpse of combative reality of the lives of transgender people everywhere. A little compassion, empathy and basic human respect wouldn’t go amiss here.
Hi SaintRuth,
Yes most people find this confusing. Using feminist language:
Sex is the biology, gender is to do with the consciousness of that biology.
For example, when I say to my someone, “do you see that bloke over there in the dress”, I have gendered that person as male. That person could be a female however if everyone is treating that person as a male then their gender or perhaps gender experience or assignment is male. Gender is all about society.
Transgender is when I don’t conform to the gender that I have been assigned. For example, a person wears clothes associated with a different gender then that person transgresses the gender expectation.
Similarly when I go on hormones etc. I’ll be transgressing that gender expectation rather significantly and while like the person who only cross dresses I transgress expectation my transgression is quite different in that I also alter my biology.
This is called by most transsexualism. My subconscious sex (what my brain expects my genitalia and secondary sex characteristics to look, feel, act and how it expects others to react to them) is different from my biology.
Often transgendered people refer to subconscious sex as gender, which confuses.
Hi Joy,
Ideally they would just remove the box from the certificate entirely.
However until they do all that not allowing transgendered people to change their birth certs is doing is forcibly outing them to any institution that requires their birthcert.
This can subject them to violence, ridicule and all other sorts of discrimination.
I’m sure while you seem to have an appreciation for your view of sex being reflected in official documents you can also understand that not bringing in this law is causing suffering and providing no actual benefits.
Red thumbs for missing the point, Joy. When was the last time a doctor asked to see your birth cert before treatment? I’m reasonably sure a trans patient would happily tell a doctor what genitalia they were born with if it was relevant. What other records are you thinking of that the state would need to keep accurately? If it’s just a matter of bean counting then you’ve lost me.
John Ryan, you’re obviously entitled to you opinion, even of it shows you to be a bigot.
Look at the governments record. Look at the promises they made when seeking election, and the reluctance of many in FG to support gay marriage. Surely the governments thinking is clear? They are inept, lacking political leadership and unwilling to risk losing support from their traditional conservative base. FG are FF light, and Labour are failed socialists. Why would we expect political courage from such a shower?
Fine Gael passed a resolution at their Ard Feis to support gay marriage. If individual TDs don’t support it then that’s their opinion. It is going to be brought to the constitutional convention and then a referendum will be set. Processes take time unfortunately.
Sadly, it is the case that the majority of our politicians – legislators – claim to be Roman Catholics, as do 84% of those who completed the 2011 census (or, in the case of children, had the census completed for them).
The Roman Catholic church, hiding behind weasel words that pretend it is not interfering in sovereign States’ affairs, makes demands of Roman Catholic politicians.
I really don’t have much of a problem with people who waste their time praying to one or other imaginary friend. It would obviously be better all round for them to devote that time, energy and, of course, money, working on the problems that exist in this life, rather than worrying about some non-existent after-life but, so be it.
What I have a very serious problem with is when all that religious clap-trap affects my life. I believe that, so long as it causes me no physical or economic harm, people should, by and large, be allowed to with their lives and bodies what they wish.
I will now attempt to explain why, here in Ireland, the people do not get what they want but, rather, get what the Roman Catholic church wants. It will, I hope, explain why we are still ruled not by our elected representatives, but from Vatican City.
The following are some Roman Catholic church rules:
Canon Law 22 states, “Civil laws to which the law of the Church yields are to be observed in canon law with the same effects, insofar as they are not contrary to divine law and unless canon law provides otherwise”. This is, of course, at the heart of the whole paedophilia scandal. That is to say that the “laws” made up by the men of the Roman Catholic church, along with those that are magically received – presumably through their funny hats – from their version of god, are, in their own parallel universe, somehow superior to any State’s legislation.
Canon Law 750.1 says, of Roman Catholics, “A person must believe with divine and Catholic faith all those things contained in the word of God, written or handed on, that is, in the one deposit of faith entrusted to the Church, and at the same time proposed as divinely revealed either by the solemn magisterium of the Church or by its ordinary and universal magisterium which is manifested by the common adherence of the Christian faithful under the leadership of the sacred magisterium; therefore all are bound to avoid any doctrines whatsoever contrary to them.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, at 1959, states,”The natural law, the Creator’s very good work, provides the solid foundation on which man can build the structure of moral rules to guide his choices. It also provides the indispensable moral foundation for building the human community. Finally, it provides the necessary basis for the civil law with which it is connected, whether by a reflection that draws conclusions from its principles, or by additions of a positive and juridical nature”.
Canon Law 223.1-2 states, “In exercising their rights, the Christian faithful, both as individuals and gathered together in associations, must take into account the common good of the Church, the rights of others, and their own duties toward others” and, “In view of the common good, ecclesiastical authority can direct the exercise of rights which are proper to the Christian faithful”.
Canon Law 915 states, “Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion”.
So, those are some of rules. But what of our good old Roman Catholic politicians, our legislators? Well, look no further than the ‘Doctrinal Note on some questions regarding The Participation of Catholics in Political Life’ written by, you guessed it, one Joey Ratzinger and published in November 2002. [http://www.doctrinafidei.va/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20021124_politica_en.html]
Key amongst the Roman Catholic drivel contained in this document are the following passages:
Following on from, “A kind of cultural relativism exists today, evident in the conceptualization and defence of an ethical pluralism, which sanctions the decadence and disintegration of reason and the principles of the natural moral law”, the document states, “Such relativism, of course, has nothing to do with the legitimate freedom of Catholic citizens to choose among the various political opinions that are compatible with faith and the natural moral law, and to select, according to their own criteria, what best corresponds to the needs of the common good”.
“…it must be noted also that a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals”.
This last one is a bit long but it really brings out what the Roman Catholic church is ordering its members – including Irish politicians – to do.
By its interventions in this area, the Church’s Magisterium does not wish to exercise political power or eliminate the freedom of opinion of Catholics regarding contingent questions. Instead, it intends – as is its proper function – to instruct and illuminate the consciences of the faithful, particularly those involved in political life, so that their actions may always serve the integral promotion of the human person and the common good. The social doctrine of the Church is not an intrusion into the government of individual countries. It is a question of the lay Catholic’s duty to be morally coherent, found within one’s conscience, which is one and indivisible. «There cannot be two parallel lives in their existence: on the one hand, the so-called ‘spiritual life’, with its values and demands; and on the other, the so-called ‘secular’ life, that is, life in a family, at work, in social responsibilities, in the responsibilities of public life and in culture. The branch, engrafted to the vine which is Christ, bears its fruit in every sphere of existence and activity. In fact, every area of the lay faithful’s lives, as different as they are, enters into the plan of God, who desires that these very areas be the ‘places in time’ where the love of Christ is revealed and realized for both the glory of the Father and service of others. Every activity, every situation, every precise responsibility – as, for example, skill and solidarity in work, love and dedication in the family and the education of children, service to society and public life and the promotion of truth in the area of culture – are the occasions ordained by providence for a ‘continuous exercise of faith, hope and charity’ (Apostolicam actuositatem, 4)». Living and acting in conformity with one’s own conscience on questions of politics is not slavish acceptance of positions alien to politics or some kind of confessionalism, but rather the way in which Christians offer their concrete contribution so that, through political life, society will become more just and more consistent with the dignity of the human person.
In summary, it is crystal clear that the Roman Catholic church is ordering its members, who are politicians – legislators – to vote only in accordance with the church’s teachings. They are also required to act in the church’s interests and, of course, if they disobey, they can look forward to excommunication and being barred from holy communion. There is also a fear that, in the face of so many “Roman Catholics”, they will lose too many No. 1s next time round.
Unfortunately, what they don’t realise is that, when you take out kids of 13 and under – along with the 75% who do not actually believe in the creed (and the 8% of Irish Roman Catholics who do not believe in a god!) [Irish Times survey (http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0605/1224317295576.html)], you’re left with less than 17% who could actually be called Roman Catholic within the Roman Catholic church’s own rules.
Religion has a lot to answer for when it comes to the denial of human rights, including the human right of children not to be abused. In Ireland, that religion is Roman Catholicism.
Such a long comment can be summed up in two words Jon “Bull shit”. No other religion has stood up more for human rights than the Catholic Church throughout its history starting from Jesus. It has helped people in the third world with education and working the land,equal rights etc. I think the brains of Ireland have left the country and left behind a few of the kick the pope brigade,ignorance is bliss as they say.
They fear offending them, like when your not sure if a girls fat or pregnant so you avoid the topic
… like when you’re unsure if someone is *trying* to be offensive or is merely stupid.
Because of the Catholic Church.
I think it is indeed quite likely that the delay is caused in part by the contradictions and anomalies with marriage rights and gender recognition. The Gender Recognition Advisory Group states as one of its key aims that all rights and responsibilities of the person will remain intact after the recognition of gender. Unfortunately it also states in its terms of reference that marriage reform was not to be considered. This left them in the absurd position of having to recommend to people seeking changed gender recognition and already in a state sanctioned relationship to get a divorce and after gender recognition to get a civil partnership or to get their civil partnership dissolved and then get married. Clearly the terms of reference made a mockery of the process and I think the group should have formally refused to submit the report with that constriction. The numbers affected by this, that is the number of people married (or in a civil partnership if a same sex couple) who wish to maintain their relationship after changed gender recognition are indeed small (if we go by the British example as a guideline) but it is significant. Approximately one in 20 (or a little fewer). I don’t think it would be a very good idea to introduce the legislation until this anomaly is fixed by the introduction of marriage equality in Ireland. Civil marriages are civil, state, contracts and are what they law defines them as being. It has nothing to do with any religion anywhere.
And Jesus, the early Jesus communities, and the early Christians weren’t big fans of marriage anyway. Jesus was a millenarian jewish rabbi who believed the end of days was nigh and urged people to leave their families to find god. He wasn’t so big on building for the future. As time went on and christian churches emerged and merged with the Roman state (centred on the Eastern empire) regulation of public behaviour became more of an issue.
The other question is when should a transgendered person be able to change his/her birth cert?
One doesn’t want the farcical situation that exists in other jurisdiction where people who don’t have the operation can change their birth cert, where “women” can have penises and “men” have vaginas and wombs and give birth.
And of course, being the time that’s in it, should transgendered people be discriminated against in the Olympics? Can a male->female transgender person enter the female boxing?
Ruth,
So trans people who can’t have that operation for medical reasons should be denied their gender identity?
So gender is determined by what is between your legs? Does this mean that a man who loses his bits is no longer a man? Or a woman who loses her womb no longer a woman?
But what is particularly disturbing is the idea that a section of society should be forcibly sterilised – that we should be denied the right to breed.
As for the Olympics – I believe the IOC have decided that trans people can compete under their gender identity after 2 years of HRT, as that time span is enough time to make a trans woman as weak as any other woman.
Isn’t it a farcical situation when someone is forcibly outed on official documents?
Similar to having Gay, Jew or Disabled written on your passport.
It was only a matter of it before somebody came up with this. Birth Certs are treated as an identity document here so therefore should be alterable.just as, it is possible to add a fathers name added to the birth cert after the event. He is not denied because he didn’t demand it at point of birth”
Why not have a third option for birth certificates, that accurately records the fact of the matter. if someone was born in the wrong body why not record it that way? You can’t legislate for extremely rare genetic disorders like Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome but I don’t see why there cannot be a solution that is both factual and acceptable to transgender people.
Maybe I’m being naive. what value are public records if they do not reflect the truth?
What is wrong with just recording the fact that I’m female – plain and simple.
Why is it so hard to look at it from the trans person’s point of view: The birth cert isn’t being changed it’s being corrected. I mean, what value are public records if they don’t reflect the truth?
Says the guy commenting on the internet via a computer.
(This was a reply to a comment which seems to have vanished – please ignore!)
I should probably add that although I cant see the sense in changing the sex on a birth cert as the information was correct at the time of writing and I do honestly believe no of us are born with a ‘gender’ in the strictest sense of the word but I have nothing but respect for people who have the bravery to live their lives they way the want in spite of any negativity and adversity they may face as a result. no body deserves to be discriminated against on the basis or gender. You only get one chance at life and a piece of paper should have any bearing on it.
above is just my opinion on the birth cert; but I am a stickler for technical accuracy.
One wonders, could the birth certificate be changed back again if there was a change of heart on the new gender?
Um – no – the information was NOT right at the time of writing.
Peepingass – first, being trans isn’t a choice or a decision – it is a medical condition caused by having (for example) a female-type brain in an otherwise male body. Hence, since the brain is a female one, the trans person CANNOT identify as male, regardless of how the body looks.
Yes, there are a very few trans people (less than 1%) who have actually mis-identified themselves as trans. There are a number of psychiatric tests that trans people go through to try and ensure this doesn’t happen. But, yes, it still happens, though very very rarely. Obviously what such people need is a way of correcting the error on their birth cert.
Well if you are as you say a stickler for technical accuracy, should an intersex person be able to change their birth sex?
Take the example of the boy who was born with an abnormally small penis, this penis was altered to turn it into a vagina, the doctor/parents thought that would be kinder. When they boy grew up he became incredibly dissatisfied with being treated like a girl. He discovered what had happened and demanded to be classified as a boy.
If you were a legislator would you feel that it would be right to change this boy’s birth cert?
Or will he have to get a letter from a doctor everytime he needs a new passport, will he need to spend ages explaining incredibly personal details to whatever university he chooses to attend?
Will he be denied to marry his girlfriend?
Clearly in the interest of technical accuracy a change must be made and more importantly clearly in the interest of considering ourselves compassionate human beings a change MUST be made.
Now this boy had XY DNA… there are lots of people who have XX and XY dna who “naturally” have genitalia you would not expect of that DNA.
How do you decide between DNA and genitalia?
Well of course the answer is obvious, YOU DON’T. The person, being the ultimate authority on their own bodies, makes the decision for themselves. Just like we do it with the deed poll.
When it comes down to it, our sexual identity is a personal thing, it’s who we are. We don’t choose who we are, who we are informs our choices.
Put yourself in the situation of that boy. What if your parents felt that you might make a better boy when you were born. Maybe in the future they will be able to alter the DNA too as well as the genitalia. Perhaps you’ll look the part in every respect, no one will know the difference expect you.
Perhaps given my personality, hobbies, career choice etc, which all fly in the face of conventional gender roles, you could argue that I would make a better boy! but that does not change that I am not.
I take your point, but I would argue that the boy in your example should not have been interfered with and left to develop naturally until such a time that he is capable of making a decision for himself.
As ive mentioned before, you cannot legislate for every conceivable eventuality as there is a huge back catalogue of biological anomalies you could pull from to back up arguments about the nature of sex and gender.
The fact that ‘outing’ people would open them up to violence etc, is a completely different issue. of course its true, but i think the issue here is intolerance and social stigma not the transgender person or their birth cert. ideally we would live in a society where people can live their lives free from fear of violence and discrimination based on their sex/gender/sexual preferences.
I know i would embrace any of my friends or relatives in their reassigned gender if they were to ‘come out’ as transgenered, but I know not everyone would. I think that is a bigger issue than paper work.
Jaysus I thought we all got a birth cert when we were born which showed all the required information – my bad
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