Mr. Broden Giambrone:

There were a number of questions and I will try to respond to all of them. First, I will address your observation about a young person six years old, or even younger in certain cases, being so aware of their gender identity and how that is a tender age. In these situations these tend to be young people who are articulating their gender identity over and over again. They are young people who, in certain instances, if they are not able to be the gender they truly are, occasionally self-harm and threaten suicide. These are children. The issue is, of course, that it can be quite difficult to discuss. Parents often have a great deal of difficulty supporting their children, because children are young and they articulate a variety of thoughts and feelings. However, it is a very specific situation when a young person is saying it over and over again, often over the course of many years. It is not a situation where these parents say, "My child has said they are a little boy, so therefore they are a little boy. We will go through the whole process of changing documents". It is a journey that the family goes through and when they are able to receive support, it becomes a much healthier process.

We are very conscious that young people are in a vulnerable situation, but what we are talking about in terms of legal recognition is very much about supporting that young person to be who they are. A legal recognition process can be an important piece of that. It is not for every young person and certainly not for every family and for that reason I acknowledge there must be a process to ensure one is protecting the young people. We often talk about protecting them in terms of not allowing them to do something whereas what we are talking about is protecting them with regard to their mental health and well-being and one can see how much better that gets when they are supported. I believe legal recognition would be a big part of that, particularly in the cases where parents and guardians support their young child. They know best what their child's needs are. That is to give a little background in that regard.

I agree that legal recognition will not change all the attitudes, but I believe it is very significant in the sense that it shows the State acknowledges that trans people exist.

There is the political motivation and there are the practical issues I have discussed. This will go a long way. I am delighted to be able to sit here and speak about these issues because, as the Senator said, I do not think we would have been able to have this conversation five or even three years ago. I am very grateful for the opportunity to address this committee and to have such a comprehensive discussion.

We are very happy with what the committee has recommended. It went through a very robust process. We and many civil society organisations, legal and medical experts, were involved. The recommendations that came out of the process are quite strong. I hope they will be seriously considered and taken on board.

While we are in favour of lowering the age to 16 it leaves people under the age of 16 in a vulnerable situation. We advocated that between the ages of 16 and 18 individuals could apply for legal recognition on their own. This is in line with other legislation in Ireland. At the moment a transgender person can seek medical transition at the age of 16 without parental consent so it only makes sense to bring the legislation in line with that. Otherwise, someone could physically change their body but is not legally recognised. For those individuals under the age of 16 such as the six year old I spoke of, or others whom we know aged 12 or 13, waiting until they are 16 to be recognised is a long time too. We urge the conversation to continue about how to support people under the age of 16.

The committee also suggested that guidelines be introduced in schools. This is one of the most significant areas where young people face barriers and challenges such as peer bullying, exclusion, isolation or not being able to access education. Having that in place to support young transgender people would be a way to deal with this if it is not possible to consider the recognition of people under the age of 16 with the support of parents or guardians. I hope we can have this conversation in greater detail.

We are aware that the report on the general scheme of a Gender Recognition Bill 2013 from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection will go before the Dáil this Friday at noon for discussion. I am not aware of much beyond that or how far along the legislation is. This is an opportunity to discuss these issues, to tease out some of the difficulties and to address the ways this may challenge people and to provide additional information. I am optimistic that this is a positive step forward. The committee’s report was very good and hopefully this will have an impact on how the legislation is drafted and a Bill will come forward very soon.