New Gender Recognition bill to Change Lives of Irish Trans* People

After a long campaign by transgender people and their supporters the Government has now passed legislation to allow transgender people who are over 18 to amend the gender on their birth cert. As of Tuesday the 8th of September the Department of Social Protection are now accepting application forms to amend birth certs to reflect the applicant’s true gender. This legislation has significant symbolic and practical implications for transgender people. Most importantly it means the state they call home recognises them for their true selves. Most Irish citizens are lucky to take their identity for granted but for this minority the new legislation is a huge leap towards acceptance. While this is undoubtedly a happy and momentous day for transgender people in Ireland, it is important to note the struggle it has taken to achieve this change. A notable figure in orchestrating this change has been Dr Lydia Foy. Dr Foy has been fighting to have her true gender recognised on her birth cert since March 1993. After undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 1992 Dr Foy could get all official documents in her female name but was refused a request to have her gender corrected on her birth cert. Not content to accept this denial by the Irish government to acknowledge her true gender identity Dr Foy initiated High Court proceedings in April 1997 with the help of FLAC (Free Legal Aid Association) after unyielding correspondence with the Registrar General's office.Her case was heard in the high court by Justice Liam McKechnie and was rejected in July 2002 due to lack of precedence in Irish courts. Justice McKechnie himself expressed frustration at the lack of legislation that would allow him to overturn the existing law;“Could I adopt what has repeatedly been said by the European Court of Human Rights and urge the appropriate authorities to urgently review this matter.”What followed was a further 13 year battle which has culminated in this life changing legislation. With the help of the persistence of people like Dr Foy and the campaigning of organisations such as TENI (Transgender Equality Network Ireland), Ireland has achieved great strides in human rights. LGBT issues have taken the forefront in 2015 with same sex marriage being legalised and now gender recognition for transgender people. However you could argue that transgender should not be grouped with LGB issues. Lesbian, gay and bisexual as sexualities are about who you love whereas being transgender is about who you are. Transgender people were being denied an intrinsic part of their identity. It is interesting to compare the marriage equality bill to this new gender recognition legislation. Same-sex marriage received a resounding “Yes”and compelled people to vote that had never voted before whereas this battle for gender recognition has been largely fought out of the spotlight. This may be because there was precedence in the form of ‘Civil partnership’ to strive for marriage equality whereas until now there was no recognition of transgender people so TENI’s main objective was to make the first step and then move to address further issues as TENI chief executive Broden Giambrone explained;There is still more work to be done to ensure that young, intersex and non-binary people will also be afforded rights. TENI commits to vigorously advocating for those who need to be included in this Act. However, today we have taken a massive leap forward. This is a turning point for trans rights in Ireland and I hope this leads to further positive changes for our communityIgnorance towards gender identity issues is extremely prevalent and the “knowledge” we do have is largely based on what we see on television. The struggle for transgender people is trivialised by the perceived association with cross dressing or the ill-conceived idea that all transgender people are homosexual or that being transgender is anything to do with sexuality. If you really take a moment to think about it, being trans* has nothing to do with sexuality as is clear from TENIs definition of transgender; (Transgender) Refers to a person whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from the sex assigned to them at birth. Another common misunderstanding is that people either identify as male or female. There are many other variants including Gender Non-binary, Genderqueer, Gender variant and Gender fluid. Also it’s significant to realise that surgery is not the “be all and end all” for everyone and choosing not to have gender reassignment surgery doesn’t make a person’s gender identity any less valid. The only authority on this is the individual and they have the right to express their true selves. An example of this is RTE news reporter Jonathan Rachel Clynch who has recently revealed they identify as ‘Gender fluid’. RTE has been greatly praised for it’s support of Jonathan Rachel and the reporter has said they are “touched” by the outpouring of positive support. Jonathan Rachel’s revelation will hopefully highlight the gaps in the current legislation in that it doesn’t  allow for any gender identity other than male or female.Transgender issues also entered world media in the recent past when Caitlyn Jenner publicly transitioned into a woman. This change was met with a lot of support on social media but also some people suspected this change was a publicity stunt. In fact Caitlyn Jenner’s story began in her early life. She said in an interview with Diane Sawyer that she was always confused about her gender identity and envied both men and women;“I look at guys and I go, he’s comfortable in his own skin and I thought, wouldn’t that be a nice way to go through life. I look at women all the time thinking ‘Oh my God, how lucky are they that they can wake up in the morning and be themselves.’ But me, I’m stuck here in the middle and I’ve got nowhere to go”The decision to “come out” or make a personal or physical change towards one’s true gender is without doubt a very difficult one. The reason Caitlyn cites for waiting so long to publicly announce that she identifies as a woman is that she didn’t want to disappoint anyone. Although this was undoubtedly a very hard and admirable choice, it’s important to note that most transgender people who do opt for surgery or hormones don’t have the financial resources available to Caitlyn Jenner to pay for the treatments and plastic surgery often required to make this change. Physical transitions don’t happen overnight, most people’s transitions are very gradual and the results won’t appear celebrated on Vanity Fair. That being said this very brave move on the part of Caitlyn has raised awareness of the issues faced by trans people and will hopefully dispel some of the misconceptions held by the wider public.Perhaps this new legislation signals a more open minded society that will enable transgender people to feel more comfortable and confident in “coming out” without judgement. Most of us are fortunate to be one of the men and women Caitlyn looked at and envied. Although she was applauded as one of the most successful athletes on earth, was financially secure and had a life many of us would envy, she envied any man or woman who could wake up in the morning and “be themselves”. Being transgender is to be robbed of something we all get to do every day, something that is fundamental to our mental well-being, which is to feel comfortable in our own skins and to be ourselves without the fear of judgement.Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) are looking for members. Membership starts at €5 and has several tiers of rewards depending on how much you donate. For more information go to TENI.ie