Parliamentary committee proposes 'right to choose legal gender'

Adults should be allowed to ‘choose’ their legal gender, a committee of MPs is set to propose.

A report, which is due to be published this week, is expected to state that over-18s should be able to ‘change’ their legal gender simply by filling out an application form.

The report, to be published by the Women and Equalities Committee, is expected to recommend changes, after an investigation into how current laws in this area affect people who identify as transgender.

At present, an individual who wishes to ‘change’ their legal gender must present proof that they have been diagnosed with ‘gender dysphoria’, as well as proof that they have been living as the opposite gender for at least two years. The application must then be assessed by a judge-led panel.
 

Call to remove gender from ID documents

But the committee’s new proposals would remove these stipulations, making it easy for anyone who so wished to ‘self-declare’ their gender.

Conservative MP Maria Miller, the committee’s chair, said she thought “people should be able to determine something like this, which is so personal, themselves.”

She also suggested that forms of identification such as passports and driving licences should no longer state the person’s gender, because it can “cause problems” for people who identify as transgender.

She said:

“For individuals who have decided to transition but haven’t necessarily got the right documentation, it can cause problems.”

Ministers are expected to discuss the possibility of implementing the plans.

Ireland, Denmark and Argentina have already passed laws allowing those over the age of 18 to self-declare their gender.
 

'Substituting a fabricated reality for truth'

Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, said in response:

“We need to recognise that there is a radical agenda here, the outworking of which will be the eradication of gender and sexual norms.

“This is another example of how our society is increasingly substituting a fabricated reality for truth. If adults can now choose which gender they want to be, where will it end?”

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Related Coverage:
Adults to get the legal right to choose if they are a man or a woman as new law will end tortuous process to change gender (Mail)
Changing gender will be as easy as filling in a form (Times £)