Editing Gender Recognition Act 2004 (section)

==Operation of the law==
The Gender Recognition Act 2004 enables [[{{as written|reason=Taken directly from the source.|transgender}}]] and [[transsexual]] people to apply to receive a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). A Gender Recognition Certificate is the document issued that shows that a person has satisfied the criteria for legal recognition in the acquired gender. The act gives people with [[gender dysphoria]] legal recognition as members of the sex appropriate to their [[gender identity]] allowing them to acquire a Gender Recognition Certificate. People whose birth was registered in the United Kingdom or abroad with the British authorities are able to obtain a [[birth certificate]] showing their recognised legal sex.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/720838/t455-eng.pdf|title=The General Guide for all Users Gender Recognition Act 2004|last=HM Courts and Tribunals Service|website=assets.publishing.service.gov.uk|access-date=17 January 2019}}</ref> People granted a full GRC are from the date of issue, considered in the eyes of the law to be of their "acquired gender" in most situations. Two main exceptions to trans people's legal recognition are that the descent of [[peerage]]s will remain unchanged (important only for primogeniture inheritance) and a right of conscience for [[Church of England]] clergy (who are normally obliged to marry any two eligible people by law).

The [[Equality and Human Rights Commission]] states that trans people with or without a GRC can be excluded from single-sex services so far as it is for a "proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim", which could be for "reasons of privacy, decency, to prevent trauma or to ensure health and safety", but that the default approach is one of inclusion as member of their acquired sex.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Syal |first1=Rajeev |title=Trans people can be excluded from single-sex services if ‘justifiable’, says EHRC |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/apr/04/trans-people-can-be-excluded-single-sex-services-if-justifiable-says-ehrc |access-date=15 September 2024 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>

The Gender Recognition Act 2004 aimed to safeguard the privacy of transgender people by defining information in relation to the gender recognition process as protected information. Anyone who acquires that information in an official capacity may be breaking the law if they disclosed it without the subject's consent. However, in the first seven years of operation, birth certificates drawn from the Gender Recognition Register were immediately distinguishable from a natal birth certificate, since they had only nine columns of information, omitting the item "Signature, description and residence of informant" that appears on birth certificates. These Gender Recognition Certificates also replaced the rubric "Certified to be a true copy of an entry in the certified copy of a Register of Births in the District above mentioned", which appears on birth certificates, with the rubric "Certified to be a true copy of a record in the custody of the Registrar General". These issues were corrected by the Gender Recognition Register (Amendment) Regulations 2011.

A [[Gender Recognition Panel]], including medical and legal experts, considers submitted evidence to assess whether the criteria for issuing a Gender Recognition Certificate have been met.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gires.org.uk/grcimage2.php|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106161149/http://www.gires.org.uk/grcimage2.php|url-status=dead|title=Example of a Gender Recognition Certificate|archivedate=6 January 2009|website=www.gires.org.uk}}</ref> The evidence must show a documented mental health diagnosis of gender dysphoria. If the person involved is in a legally recognised marriage, they require spousal consent for the certificate to be issued, after which a new marriage certificate can be issued;<ref name="Familylaw">{{cite web|url=https://www.familylaw.co.uk/news_and_comment/the-legal-process-for-gender-change#.WxAM83PTU0M|title=The legal process for gender recognition|first1=Hannah|last1=Greene|first2=Nicole|last2=Phillips|work=FamilyLaw|publisher=[[LexisNexis]]|date=29 May 2018|access-date=31 May 2018}}</ref> if the spouse does not consent, the person will be issued an Interim Gender Recognition Certificate,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gires.org.uk/grcimage.php|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106175035/http://www.gires.org.uk/grcimage.php|url-status=dead|title=Example of an Interim Gender Recognition Certificate|archivedate=6 January 2009|website=www.gires.org.uk}}</ref> which for a limited period can then be used as grounds for annulment of the marriage, but otherwise has no status.<ref name="Familylaw"/>

Section 16 provides that acquiring a new gender under the act does not affect the [[Hereditary peer#Inheritance of peerages|descent of peerages]] or estates that devolve with them.<ref>Gender Recognition Act 2004, [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/7/section/16 Section 16], legislation.gov.uk, accessed 2 June 2021</ref> The Act does not allow children to change their legal gender.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gender Recognition Act 2004 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/7/section/1 |website=Legislation.gov.uk |access-date=15 September 2024}}</ref>

===Updates===
In 2016, the Women and Equalities Committee published a root-and-branch review of the Gender Recognition Act, noting its deficiencies and making recommendations for its review. At the same time, it noted similar deficiencies in the [[Equality Act 2010]] as it affected the protected characteristic of gender reassignment.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Transgender Equality: First Report of Session 2015–2016|last=Women and Equalities Committee|publisher=House of Commons|year=2016}}</ref>

In November 2017, the Scottish government published its review of the GRA with intentions to reform it "so that it is in line with international best practice."<ref>{{cite web|title=Review of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (9 Nov 2017)|url=http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/11/5459|website=Scottish Government (Riaghaltas na h-Alba)|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref> The "Ministerial Foreword" to the review acknowledges that the 2004 GRA is "out of date" and places "intrusive and onerous" requirements on the person applying for the gender change. The government recommends keeping the existing requirements for applicants to declare that "they fully understand the implications of their application and intend to live in their acquired gender for the rest of their lives" but proposes eliminating the requirement "to provide medical evidence and to have lived in their acquired gender for two years before applying".<ref>{{cite web|title=Ministerial Foreword to the Review of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (4 November 2017)|url=http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/11/5459/347284|website=Scottish Government (Riaghaltas na h-Alba)|access-date=22 January 2018}}</ref>

In 2017, Minister for Equalities [[Justine Greening]] considered reforms to the Gender Recognition Act to de-medicalise the process, with the principle of self-identification. One of Greening's successors, [[Penny Mordaunt]], affirmed that the consultation on the Gender Recognition Act would come from the starting place that "transgender women are women".

In a June 2020 report, the European Commission classified the legal procedures for gender recognition of 28 European countries into 5 categories based on the barriers to access. This placed the Gender Recognition Act 2004 in the second from bottom category with "intrusive medical requirements" that lags behind international human rights standards.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Legal gender recognition in the EU: the journeys of trans people towards full equality|url=https://ec.europa.eu/info/files/lgbti-study-transgender-people_en|access-date=2020-10-09|website=European Commission – European Commission|language=en}}</ref>

In September 2020, the UK government published the results of the public consultation which showed wide support for all aspects of reform, including 64% in favour of removing the requirement for a diagnosis of [[gender dysphoria]] and 80% in favour of removing the requirement for a medical report.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Analysis of the responses to the Gender Recognition Act (2004) consultation|language=en|work=GOV.UK|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/response-to-the-gender-recognition-act-2004-consultation|access-date=2020-10-09}}</ref> However, the UK government decided not to change the current law, which was described as "a missed opportunity" by the [[Equality and Human Rights Commission]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-22|title=EHRC statement on Gender Recognition Act|url=https://www.politicshome.com/members/article/ehrc-statement-on-gender-recognition-act|access-date=2020-10-09|website=Politics Home|language=en}}</ref>