Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Some of the contributions we have heard this morning have been welcome, and I will probably repeat some of the points that have already been made. Sinn Féin has long recognised the need for a legal framework for transgender people to have their birth certificates amended to reflect their preferred gender identity. It was for this reason, as has already been said, that we published a gender recognition Bill over a year ago. I have attended meetings in the House with other Deputies and Senators to examine this area as well as the best associated international experiences and how this is rolling out in other countries. When developing the Bill, we worked closely with transgender advocacy organisations to ensure it was reflective of their needs, and I urge the Minister to follow this approach.

We are elected to represent communities and constituencies, but that does not mean we can speak for every cohort. Therefore, when legislation is being introduced which affects a specific group of people it is essential that the group is not only consulted but also included in the process. The consultation should not be confined to a group of cis-gendered men in a room, including myself, who have never had to beg or fight for recognition of our status. I imagine people listening at home will be asking what cis-gendered means. The dictionary states that it relates to a person whose self-identity conforms to a gender that corresponds to his or her biological sex. I doubt any person in the Chamber has ever had to tell someone what his or her preferred pronoun was.

We welcomed that groups were invited in during the committee hearings on the scheme of the Bill, but I urge the Minister to take into account the concerns of transgender individuals who have been vocal on the Bill as it proceeds. The scheme of the Bill is long overdue. As far as we are concerned, progress on transgender rights should not be hampered by any bureaucratic hurdles.

Our Bill was based on the Argentinian legal framework, which is perceived internationally as the best in the world. Had it passed, it would have positioned Ireland as a leader on the world stage in terms of progressing transgender rights. It would have ensured that everyone had a right to legal recognition of their self-identified gender and could be issued with official documentation, including birth certificates, to recognise this fact.

It is singularly important that people are not forced to undergo any kind of surgery or be diagnosed with a mental health condition to have their preferred gender recognised. Furthermore, no person should be forced to divorce a life partner to have his or her gender recognised. It is an insult to expect transgender people to divorce a spouse and be diagnosed with a mental health condition to access such a basic human right. Discrimination should be done away with, not institutionalised.

While we welcome the general scheme as a step in the right direction, it is important that the Minister for Social Protection take on board the recommendations of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection. These include replacing the term "acquired gender" with "preferred gender" - I listened to Deputy O'Dea's comments in this regard; reducing the age at which a person can apply for gender recognition from 18 to 16 years of age; providing that a person who is already married is not prevented from qualifying for a gender recognition certificate; reconsidering the current wording with respect to evidence of transition to address concerns raised and ensure that people are not stigmatised as a result of the requirements in this regard; and the amendment of equality legislation to include gender identity.

Transgender and intersex people do not live in a vacuum and we know this. They have families and friends and they are part of our communities, schools, colleges and workplaces. They vote for us: some of them vote us out and some of them vote us in, but, regardless, we are elected to represent them in the House. They are entitled to the same rights as everyone else in Ireland and they should be treated with dignity and respect rather than as objects of fun or derision.

I commend Dr. Lydia Foy on the bravery she has displayed in fighting the State for recognition through successive legal challenges. This is about human rights. People should not have to fight for legal recognition of who they are as people. However, for as long as there remains no mechanism for transgender or intersex people to get new birth certificates in their gender the State remains in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. The failure to ensure legal recognition has ensured that transgender and intersex people are without legal status and therefore negatively affected in respect of their ability to access the most basic of services, including social welfare benefits, education and transport.

Transgender Equality Network Ireland, TENI, which carries out great work supporting transgender people, has raised cases in the past in which transgender boys attending schools have been forced to wear skirts every day as part of their uniform because the school management does not recognise their gender. The Minister, Deputy Bruton, indicated that the Minister for Education and Skills met the parents of transgender pupils and that he was very supportive, but what does that mean? Will we see changes in schools? I am keen to hear the Minister's reply and what exactly will happen. It is not fair that the State should stand over the infliction of this type of torment on young people every day, but this is what is happening because of the absence of a mechanism for legal recognition.

As the report suggests, the language used in the Bill must be changed. As legislators, we have a responsibility when dealing with this issue to ensure that an element of public education is involved. Clearly, "preferred gender" is a far better term to use and would enable people to have their true gender recognised. Such people are not acquiring anything new aside from a birth certificate. The language should be positive and reflect the objective of allowing a person to live in his or her true gender and have that recognised.

It is imperative that the age requirement be revisited. Young transgender people in many cases will have already begun the process of transition by the time they are 18 years of age. In fact, many young people have sought out pathways to transition before the onset of puberty. We know this from international studies. A blanket age restriction is not in line with international standards on the rights of teenagers or their best interests. Amnesty International has recommended a case-by-case approach.

Where a young person is afforded the ability to medically transition, the age of medical consent is generally 16 years. Where such people are not afforded legal transition they are vulnerable to an increased risk of abuse. If a young person does not outwardly match what is written on his or her official documentation, he or she runs a constant risk of being outed. We know that transphobic attacks involving verbal and physical violence have taken place not only here but abroad. Some states have introduced homophobic legislation, with the attendant danger of attacks, imprisonment and so on. The Government has a responsibility to prevent any further exposure to risk.

We know that transgender people are already at an elevated risk of suicide and depression. All the figures are available in this regard, and that risk must not be exacerbated. We must do everything within our power to change it. This is not only the view of Sinn Féin. The Ombudsman for Children has said that forthcoming legislation should remove the criterion relating to minimum age, that a parent or guardian should be enabled to make an application for a gender recognition certificate on behalf of his or her child, and that children of 16 years should be enabled to apply in their own right.

Reference has been made to medical requirements. The requirement to provide a statement by a physician to obtain a gender recognition certificate should be removed. Leaving this in serves only to further stigmatise transgender people, as does the need to undergo specific health treatments which may not be medically necessary. We know of the difficulties some countries have had in this area in respect of obtaining expertise and the difficulty of getting experts.

People should not have to undergo any specific health treatment or be judged according to medical criteria to obtain legal recognition of gender. Ireland is way behind other countries on this issue. The current scheme is a missed opportunity to uphold people's rights. Other countries have made progress in this area and the sky has not fallen in. Other jurisdictions, including Britain, Germany and Belgium, offer early medical intervention to transgender teenagers because of the positive benefits to their mental health. In Argentina the law allows those under 18 years to change their legal gender with consent of their guardians.

Denying legal recognition of a preferred gender directly contributes to the perpetuation of transphobic bullying. There are cases of the CAO system not recognising the leaving certificate results of a person who was going through a transition because the results were not received. The stress of going through exams and university applications while grappling with a transitional process should not be compounded by a legal structure that allows this kind of discrimination.

One of the major aspects of the scheme that must be revisited is the fact that only persons who are unmarried or not in civil partnerships will be entitled to recognition of their preferred gender. The implication of this is that, regardless of the opinions of those involved, a transgender person would be compelled to divorce a spouse or civil partner if the person wished to have his or her gender legally recognised. The underlying premise is that one cannot inadvertently allow the introduction of same-sex marriage under the wire by allowing two people to marry and then for one to be recognised-----

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