On Wednesday 22 April 2020, the Conservative Minister for Women and Equalities, Liz Truss, set out her plan to progress the reform of the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) this summer, in a speech to the Equalities Select Committee.
In this speech, she stated that the Government response, led by her, would follow “three very important principles”. Concerningly, only one of these three principles actually appears to relate to GRA reform.
In response to this statement, the LCR Pride Foundation has written to MPs from the Liverpool City Region, urgently asking them to seek clarity on the points that the Minister presented, how these have been shaped by the GRA consultation and indeed the factual and statistical evidence that the Government has used to draw these statements up.
You can read our letter by clicking here and we encourage you to join us in contacting your local MP, using this template.
You can find a useful list of MPs for the region on this wikipedia page here, as well as check their voting history using the theyworkforyou.com website.
This letter is co-signed by: Comics Youth, Kop Outs (LFC LGBT+ Fans Group), Liverpool TDOV (Trans Day Of Visibility), Liverpool Trans Pride, Merseyside In-Trust, Pride in Prison And Probation (PiPP), Sahir House, Spirit Level, and YPAS – Young Persons Advisory Service – GYRO and THE Action Youth. If you would like to add your organisations name please get in touch.
A spokesperson for the LCR Pride Foundation said: “The ‘principles’ outlined in the speech given by the Minister for Women and Equalities on April 22 are deeply concerning and she must be held to account. Urgent clarification on the points raised is required, along with the reason for the extremely poor timing of tabling such important discussions during the COVID-19 crisis.
“Trans people are recognised and protected by the Equalities Act and have the same rights to live without discrimination and abuse as everyone else. This includes equal access to healthcare and the right to make decisions about their bodies and lives. The Minister’s statement appears to directly contradict these fundamental rights by excluding young trans and non-gender binary people, stating they be ‘protected from decisions that they could make that are irreversible in the future’.
“The lack of support and understanding for young trans and non-binary people is already a huge issue in our community, resulting in shockingly high suicide rates in trans young people. We do not want to see young people’s rights or health further diminished.
“The LGBT+ community in the Liverpool City Region has a proud history of standing together with our trans and non-gender binary community. We will work closely with the groups, charities and advisors that represent the community in the region to amplify and champion its voice, and ensure that any reform to the GRA means that all trans people are accepted without exception.”
