Defending our rights

On July 15, 2015, the Gender Recognition Act was passed in Ireland, allowing some trans people to change their legal gender. 10 years on, as Ollie Bell notes, the milestone anniversary comes at a time of increased backlash against the community’s hard-earned rights.

Ireland is one of 11 European countries to have gender recognition through self-determination, meaning there’s no requirement to go through a psychological or medical evaluation to obtain a Gender Recognition Cert. A medical diagnosis is still required for 35 European countries, while places like Turkey, Romania and Montenegro will only allow a trans person to change their legal gender if they’re sterilised.

The passing of the Gender Recognition Act was no small feat. It was not handed to trans people easily, but a battle fought for 20 years. This achievement belongs to the trans community, led by Dr Lydia Foy, who went through three separate court cases that won us gender recognition. It is only now, 10 years later, that anti-trans activists want to rewrite history and paint this law as something snook in by the ‘evil trans lobby’.

This is the narrative transphobes need in order to spread anti-trans rhetoric. They need to create a false reality where politicians were tricked into passing a law they didn’t understand because, without it, their whole ideology falls apart. The fact that it’s taken them 10 years to realise Ireland has self-determination shows how little this law affects cisgender people. The changing of a letter on someone’s documents matters only to the person who now doesn’t have to worry about their ID having the wrong gender. Gender Recognition has only become an issue because transphobic ‘feminists’ have made it one. Ireland shows clearly that when you allow trans people to self-determine their legal gender, it has zero effect on women’s safety. If this law disappeared overnight, it would do nothing to solve the real epidemic of gender-based violence in Ireland but would instead be detrimental to the lives and well-being of trans people.

The recent UK Supreme Court ruling shows how fragile our protections really are. Overnight, rights that were seen as guaranteed can be overturned by the stroke of a pen. Five judges, the majority being men, voted to define ‘woman’ in the Equality Act 2010 as only including biological women, excluding trans women from protection against misogyny.

This ruling affects the rights of all trans and intersex people. It defines sex as binary and states that someone is either a man or a woman. It restricts trans women’s access to women-only spaces but also restricts trans men from accessing these spaces too, due to hormones giving them a ‘masculine appearance’. Although the ruling pretends to be about biology, they’re very lenient with ‘biological truth’ when it comes to banning any trans person from any single-sex space.

Similarly, the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s interim guidance on single-sex spaces forbids trans women from women’s spaces and trans men from men’s spaces. Yet, it also states that in some cases, trans women wouldn’t be permitted to use men’s spaces or trans men women’s spaces. The motivation for the ruling isn’t to uphold ‘biological reality’ but instead to ensure trans people’s lives are made as difficult as possible. It’s not about safety, it’s about punishing trans people for daring to exist and restricting our freedom to access public spaces.

Far from a win for women’s rights, it is a win for the far-right and billionaire class.

Even before the UK Supreme Court, gender recognition for trans people has been rolled back or restricted in other countries.

Viktor Orban’s government in Hungary passed a law in 2020 which banned trans and intersex people from changing their legal gender. Hungary also passed a law in 2021 banning the ‘promotion’ of LGBTQ+ identities to minors, and more recently, a ban on Pride parades.

Russia in 2023 brought in a similar bill, which sought to ban legal gender recognition and prevent doctors from offering trans healthcare to any trans person regardless of age. This law also bans trans people from adopting children and nullifies any marriage to a trans person if the couple shares the same assigned gender at birth.

The second Trump presidency also sets a worrying precedent for trans people. Similarly to the UK, Trump’s executive orders seek to define sex as binary and unchangeable. Despite being titled ‘Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism’, the definition of sex refers to conception, asserting the personhood of a foetus as a way to also undermine abortion rights. Multiple trans people have spoken out to say their gender markers had been changed on their ID documents, along with removing the option to get an ‘X’ passport.

These rollbacks on legal gender recognition shouldn’t be ignored, as any attack on the trans community abroad is an attack on us all. Even though we won gender recognition 10 years ago, it doesn’t mean it can’t be taken away. We need to be extra vigilant, especially with the rise of the far-right and the appointment of fascist councillors across Ireland. The recent UK Supreme Court decision will embolden anti-trans groups here to challenge our laws. Self-determination for trans people can’t be taken for granted and must be defended from any attacks by transphobic activists.

But this defence must also include a strengthening of our gender recognition laws. Our law might be more progressive than other European countries, but it still isn’t enough. Non-binary recognition was left out completely during the initial campaign. Currently, Iceland and Germany are the only European countries to have legal recognition for non-binary people. The autonomy and freedom self-determination gives to trans women and trans men should also be afforded to non-binary people. Despite the 2017 review of the Gender Recognition Act recommending non-binary recognition, there has been little progress made to enact this.

Another recommendation has also been pushed aside: legal recognition for under-16s. While it’s possible for 16 to 17-year-olds to legally change their gender, this process is more complicated. A 16 or 17-year-old would need the consent of their legal guardian and two forms from their medical practitioner and a psychiatrist or endocrinologist. Given the lack of trans healthcare for under-18s, this process can be nearly impossible for any young trans person. The recommendation from the review was to propose a simplified pathway as well as a process for under-16s. Again, there has been little progress made on this.

The review also made no mention of intersex recognition. It’s important to note that being trans and being intersex are two different things, despite overlaps existing within trans and intersex experiences. Intersex recognition shouldn’t be about creating a third gender classification for intersex people but rather about intersex people’s bodily autonomy and self-determination. Intersex recognition should also come with a complete ban on ‘sex-normalising’ surgeries, which reinforce the stigma that intersex people’s bodies need to be fixed.

The Malta Declaration by the Third International Intersex Forum calls for intersex children to be assigned either male or female, with the understanding that this can change in the future. It also calls for these classifications to be easily amenable and the ability for everyone (adults and capable minors) to choose between M, F, non-binary or multiple options. It’s interesting to note that this declaration states that in the future, these classifications shouldn’t exist on birth certificates or ID documents, an opinion I myself would agree with.

The ignoring of the recommendations is a failure of the government to take trans and non-binary equality seriously. It’s also not separated from the current government dropping its commitment to introduce a model of care for gender-affirming healthcare based on the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. The Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael-led government offers no hope for trans rights, including more inclusive gender recognition laws.

Gender recognition for all is linked to the ongoing struggle for trans healthcare. Self-determination respects the agency of a trans person to assert their gender without intervention—a concept that should be ingrained when accessing gender-affirming care. Yet, Ireland is the worst country in the EU for trans healthcare; it doesn’t respect our bodily autonomy but pathologises our existence, forcing us to go through traumatic assessments.

Any movement for trans liberation must also include standing up for non-binary people, the intersex community and young trans people. The Supreme Court decision and the rollback on gender recognition show how important it is to mobilise and build a grassroots trans rights movement. Marching at Trans & Intersex Pride Dublin on Saturday, July 12, is just one way to defend and show solidarity with the trans community. There are also Trans Pride marches planned for Belfast, Cork and Limerick.