Gender Recognition Act Consultation Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for International Trade
James Murray
Main Page: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)Department Debates - View all James Murray's debates with the Department for International Trade
Gender Recognition Act Consultation
James Murray Excerpts(4 years, 1 month ago)
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Elizabeth Truss
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, and it is important that we address the issues that transgender people have had with the process—namely, the cost and the bureaucracy. We do not want finance to be a barrier to people to be able to go through the gender recognition certificate process.
James Murray (Ealing North) (Lab/Co-op) [V]
It has been well over two years since the Government first sought views on how to reform the Gender Recognition Act. The consultation received more than 100,000 responses, the vast majority of which were in favour of reform, yet the truth is that the Government have chosen to change little about the process of acquiring a gender recognition certificate. They have chosen to leave in place a lengthy, medicalised process that requires medical reports, statutory declarations, consideration by a panel, and more. Why have the Government taken so long to respond, only to ignore the wishes and destroy the hopes of so many in the trans community?
Elizabeth Truss
As I made clear earlier, the Government do not believe in moving towards a model of self-ID. This is a serious process that has taken time for us to consider, but our view is that we need to maintain proper checks and balances in the system. We have addressed the issues that transgender people highlighted as important to them around healthcare, bureaucracy and the costs of the process, making the process kinder and more straightforward.