Discrimination, LGBTQ+

Spotlight on:
Reforming the Gender Recognition Act

A letter from Alex
The Gender Recognition Act (GRA) was ground-breaking when it was passed 14 years ago as the result of a human rights case brought by Christine Goodwin. It allowed trans people to legally change their name on their birth certificates. But, as trans rights have advanced globally, it has become clear that there are many problems with the legislation. Many say the process is overly invasive, humiliating and bureaucratic – and can take as long as five years to complete. In response to the government’s consultation on reforming the GRA for England and Wales, which closes at the end of this week on Friday October 19th 2018, there has been a great deal of media coverage which paints trans people as a threat to our society. This is reminiscent of how certain sections of the media covered lesbian and gay rights in the 1980s. Hostile coverage only serves to foster division and make people with genuine questions reluctant to ask them. We want to inspire people to think again about these reforms from an empathetic and well-informed perspective. That is why over the next week we will be running a mini-series on the proposed GRA reforms focusing on the voices of the people affected most: trans people and their families. Thank you for reading and watching as ever! Very best Alex
Alex Feis Bryce was the CEO of RightsInfo before we rebranded as EachOther in 2019

I’m trying to teach my daughter to be strong, to set her sights high to believe she can do anything. But she is already learning that her government can deny her rights. That the government, which does not now, and has never had a trans MP, wields the overwhelming power to prevent her changing a piece of paper, which will continue to state ‘male’ into her distant future

I’m trying to teach my daughter to be strong, to set her sights high to believe she can do anything. But she is already learning that her government can deny her rights. That the government, which does not now, and has never had a trans MP, wields the overwhelming power to prevent her changing a piece of paper, which will continue to state ‘male’ into her distant future

Find out more from our conversations in this week with women’s refuge groups, academics, and people with lived experience.

Human Rights are key to driving forward trans rights

Find out more

The proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act could be a watershed moment for the rights of transgender people in the UK. Watch our explainer video on the way the law works at the moment and reasons why people say it needs to change.

Spotlight Partners

NGA Law
NGA Law

We change the rules to make families possible. The UK’s first specialist fertility law team, we have leading expertise and unrivalled experience in surrogacy, assisted reproduction and family law disputes involving modern families. We believe that everyone deserves the chance of a family, and that children thrive with love and confidence no matter what their family structure or how they came into the world. We find solutions for modern families, thinking outside the box and giving nurturing care through exceptional professional service. We are ranked by Legal 500 among the top family law firms in the UK and have handled many of the UK’s leading cases on surrogacy, assisted reproduction and LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) parenting. In 2016 we won a Solicitors Journal Award for Family Team of the Year. In 2015 we were nominated as Family Law Firm of the Year at the Family Law Awards, and for the Legal 500 special awards for excellence. Well-known boundary-pushers, we have changed law and policy through our cases, our campaigning work and our non-profit surrogacy agency Brilliant Beginnings. In May 2015, the Times ran a feature about our groundbreaking work: 'It's all about changing lives - and the law'. We work with families all over the world from our new offices in central London and the New Forest.

Christine Burns MBE
Christine Burns MBE

‘Self ID’ was the unfortunate name chosen for what is merely simplification. But the purpose and effect of the GRA will remain what it always was: a means for trans people — and trans people alone — to update a document that otherwise doesn’t describe their lived reality and exposes them to discrimination.

Chwarae Teg
Chwarae Teg

This change will remove the complex and prohibitive barriers, including cost, which disproportionately affect disabled, BAME, unemployed and other trans women who are the most vulnerable. It will bring our legal process in line with the way we already behave as a society. We do not believe that it will impact the safety and protections that women have, and need, nor will it affect the Equalities Act 2010.

Growing Up Transgender
Growing Up Transgender

My child and all trans kids know way too much about hate, about discrimination, about cruelty, about rejection. I’m trying to teach my daughter to be strong, to set her sights high to believe she can do anything. But she is already learning that her government can deny her rights. That the government, which does not now, and has never had a trans MP, wields the overwhelming power to prevent her changing a piece of paper, which will continue to state ‘male’ into her distant future.