Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I am speaking to amendment No. 12 but they are both similar. This is an important question. The Government itself is bringing in reviews of the Gender Recognition Act yet we are proposing legislation today that does not recognise transgender people. This is not just cosmetic. There is fear among trans people that they will be excluded should they go to their doctor. I will give the Minister an example of something that has come up with a transgender person I know who has not physically transitioned but has changed their gender legally. They used to play a sport and were told they could no longer play that sport in their former gender even though physically they were the same. The reason I mention this is that it shows that the legal definition of our gender is critical, not just what we are physically. Last Saturday, I met a group of transgender people and they also raised this.

I am finding it hard to understand how the Government has gone as far as this point because the issue was flagged during the summer. We keep hearing these vague references to legal advice saying we have to do this but we have not been given the explanation as to why the legal advice cannot move with the times in 2018. It just seems strange given that the Government is also bringing in something progressive in the introduction of non-binary as a gender. LGBT and non-binary people played a sterling, lead role in this referendum. Young people who are non-binary and LGBT people were at the forefront on the ground of this campaign. They may not have been featured in the debates or at the large official events - lots of us were not at any of those - but people on the ground were the ones who led this, particularly young people.

It is a bit of a smack in the face. I ask the Minister to please accept the amendments. The best definition is important and not just for transgender people. The definition of a pregnant person should be anyone who can become pregnant. I also have a fear that the word "woman" could be used to prevent somebody who is a girl in legal terms from having an abortion as well. It would cover all those aspects. If the Minister wishes to include "woman" and "pregnant person", that would be fine, and I am not overly concerned about that. This is something that is really exercising people and there is much fear because of it. We must recognise the amendment and there should be a vote on it.