Labour Pledges To Simplify Gender Transition Process If It Wins Election
Labour has pledged to “simply” the gender transition process if it wins the general election next week.
The party says the current law is “intrusive and outdated” and needs urgent reform.
At the moment, transgender people must provide two years’ worth of documentation showing they have changed genders before they can be given a gender recognition certificate (GRC).
Under the Labour proposals, anyone seeking to change gender will instead have to go through a two-year cooling-off period after applying for a GRC.
Another major change will see GRC applications signed off by a single specialist doctor rather than a panel of medics and lawyers, as is the case at the moment.
A Labour spokesman said: “Labour will modernise, simplify and reform the intrusive and outdated gender recognition law to a new process.
“We will remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance; while retaining the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a specialist doctor, enabling access to the healthcare pathway.
“Britain is a reasonable and tolerant society where most people know that there are a small number of individuals who do not identify with the gender that they were born into.
“Labour’s plans will protect single-sex spaces, treat everybody with respect and dignity, maintain the existing two-year time frame for gender recognition, and ensure that robust provisions are in place to protect legitimate applications.”