Amnesty International today welcomed the Government’s decision to base access to legal gender recognition on self-declaration rather than on a medical practitioner’s supporting statement, and to remove the single status requirement from the Gender Recognition Bill 2014.
Colm O’ Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland, said:
“We commend the Irish Government on committing to these two important and progressive changes. These crucial reforms will help ensure this new law protects the human rights of transgender people – one based on the rights and needs of the people who should be at its heart.
“The Bill’s current requirement of a medical practitioner’s supporting statement could have resulted in the stigmatisation of transgender people, and unnecessary diagnostic assessments. This new approach of self-identification will allow a person’s own sense of their gender identity to be respected, in line with international human rights standards.
“We are pleased that the Government is making good on its commitment to amending the Bill now that the marriage equality referendum has passed. This will remove one of the most troubling provisions in the current Bill – forcing people to separate from their loved ones.
“We are heartened that two of our three major concerns with the Bill have been addressed. We remain concerned that the Bill will still stipulate that 16 and 17-year-olds require a court order to obtain legal recognition of their gender. Rather than enforcing a blanket age restriction, a case-by-case approach should be applied towards children, in which the child’s views and best interest are taken into account, as outlined by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. We will continue to encourage the Government to revisit this aspect of the Bill.”