Mr. Broden Giambrone:

I thank the Chairman for the invitation to address the committee and the members present to discuss this very important issue. We are looking forward to the opportunity to answer questions and get into the issues in more detail. I will provide some background and my colleagues will speak to the substantive issues, with Dr. Ní Mhuirthile taking the presentation to its end.

Transgender, or trans, people are among the most vulnerable members of Irish society and experience high levels of stigmatisation and marginalisation. Research shows that trans people experience some of the highest rates of suicidality, experience regular harassment and violence and systemic discrimination. In Ireland, a major contributing factor to the marginalisation of trans people is the lack of State recognition of trans identities. Legal gender recognition would provide a process for changing the gender marker on the applicant’s birth certificate. This is important as birth certificates are foundational identity documents which are necessary to obtain a PPS number or to get married. In our current position, many trans people may be able to change certain identification documents - such as a passport or driving licence - to the preferred gender but they are unable to change a birth certificate. That can have a significant impact as it can lead to them being "outed" when going for jobs or to university, or in any case where identification must be shown. This puts an individual at risk and can lead to denial of services or restrict an individual's ability to travel domestically or internationally.

Ireland is one of the few remaining countries in the European Union that does not allow for legal recognition of trans people. This is despite a High Court ruling in 2007 which found the State to be in breach of its positive obligations under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, ECHR, in failing to recognise Dr. Lydia Foy in her female gender and provide her with a new birth certificate. This was the first declaration of incompatibility to be made under the ECHR and we still have not acted on it.

In May 2010, the Government set up the gender recognition advisory group, GRAG, an interdepartmental working group whose remit was "to advise the Minister for Social Protection on the legislation required to provide for legal recognition by the State of the acquired gender of transsexuals".

Following consultation and research the group outlined a legal pathway and qualification criteria for legal gender recognition. It is important to point out that the proposed qualification criteria for the Irish legislation are very much borrowed from the UK's gender recognition Act in 2004. The criteria will include a requirement that applicants be 18 years of age or over, a formal diagnosis of gender identity disorder, GID, plus relevant medical evidence and the requirement that an individual not be in an existing valid marriage or civil partnership. Applicants would also be required to apply to a three-person independent panel.

We strongly believe that the proposed qualification criteria for gender recognition are highly restrictive and clearly infringe on an individual's right to privacy, personal dignity and family life. The process is discriminatory and will cause serious hardship for individuals and their families. One of the proposed requirements is that the individual will need a formal diagnosis of GID or have undergone gender reassignment surgery. Gender identity disorder is a diagnosis that is found in the American Psychiatric Association's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders", DSM. People are required to have a diagnosis of GID from this manual from medical professionals in Ireland. If this diagnosis of GID is used, it will be exclusionary for individuals who either cannot or choose not to undergo medical interventions or get a diagnosis of a mental illness. A diagnosis of GID also excludes people who are intersex, many of whom would benefit enormously from being able to access gender recognition legislation. The term "gender identity disorder", while it is used throughout the gender recognition advisory group, GRAG, report is now being removed from the DSM and being replaced by gender dysphoria. If we included the term, we would be enshrining an obsolete term in legislation.

The second major difficulty in the proposed legislation is the requirement to exclude people who are in existing marriages or civil partnerships. The group based its recommendations on the UK model, which provides an informal fast track. In the UK, marriage and civil partnership are afforded many of the same rights, while in Ireland the situation is quite different. In the UK married couples can get a divorce and change over to a civil partnership within 48 hours, so nobody needs to know the family has broken up, nobody must move out of the home and children do not need to know anything about it. The Irish context is very different. Couples must have no prospect of reconciliation and must be living apart for four years to get a divorce. Couples who wish to stay together and are in happy marriages would have to lie in court to access a divorce if one of them wished to have their gender recognised. Clearly, this would have a devastating effect on an individual's family.

It is vital that the legislation introduced is firmly grounded in a rights based model that is inclusive, progressive and marriage friendly. We need only look to Argentina, which introduced a gender recognition Bill that was passed in May. The criteria for changing one's gender in Argentina are now simplified and based on self-determination. There is no need for an individual to prove that they have had surgical procedures, hormonal therapy or other psychological or medical treatments, such as a diagnosis of mental illness. This law clearly separates a legal right from medical interventions. Ireland has the potential to be the first country in Europe to introduce legislation that truly respects the rights and privacy of transgender people and we must not miss that opportunity.