John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome members of the Transgender Equality Network Ireland, TENI, especially Ms Vanessa Lacey, its PR officer, and members of Amnesty International.

It is worth reflecting on the fact that, right across the world, many people are being subjected to discrimination, violence, imprisonment or execution because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Uganda's president has signed an anti-homosexual bill into law, there is repressive legislation in Russia and northern Nigeria and many people, even in Western civilisation, have distorted views. In Nigeria, the transgender group's slogan is "Living for love, dying because of hate".

We must accept that there is a rising tide of homophobia in many parts of the world. Amnesty International, of which I am a member, has accused some countries of violating the human rights of people who are trying to change their gender identity legally. In a damning report, it documented how transgender people were forced to undergo invasive surgeries, forced sterilisations, hormone therapies and forced divorces before they could change their legal status.

I welcome the committee's report before the House today, although I do have some reservations. I will go through them as quickly as I can because I do not have as much time as I would like. Amnesty International has a small problem with the establishment of a blanket age restriction, in that it is not entirely in line with international standards on the rights and best interests of children, particularly their right to express their views freely and to have same taken into account. We would prefer a case-by-case approach in which the child's views could be highlighted by the committee on the rights of the child and given due weight when the child is capable of forming her or his view. This relates to section 12(85). However, I understand the rationale for lowering the age criteria, given the fact that adolescents of between 16 and 18 years of age can consent to medical and dental treatment without the consent of their parents or guardians on the basis of section 23(1) of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997. I welcome this part of the report as a first step and will not oppose it in the Bill.

I have grave difficulty with the committee's recommendation that the Bill's current wording in respect of evidence of transition be reconsidered to address the concerns raised at its hearings about people potentially being stigmatised as a result of this requirement. I will seek the removal of the requirement for a physician's statement to obtain a gender recognition certificate. Such a requirement would not only result in someone being stigmatised, but also in the need to undergo specific health treatments, for example, hormone treatments and surgeries that are not necessarily a medical necessity. We should consider this issue carefully. Should the Government believe there is a need to retain some kind of supporting statement, it should not be the exclusive preserve of the medical community. A broad category of persons should be able to provide such a statement. Nor should the statement require individuals to undergo health treatments or be judged according to medical criteria in order to obtain legal gender recognition. I urge committee members to reconsider this issue.

Everyone should read TENI's recommendations, which are excellent and have been accepted by many organisations across the world, including Amnesty International. In TENI's opinion, legislation based on human and civil rights is a key to equality for all. The end of its document sums up all of my beliefs as regards rights for transgender people. It reads:

Trans and intersex people do not live in a vacuum. We have families and friends; we are part of communities and schools and colleges and workplaces. We are entitled to the same rights as everyone else living in Ireland. This issue is about basic human rights, and therefore it affects us all in Ireland.

The people best placed to advise on legislation are those who have drafted this document. I have met many of them and some are good friends of mine. I am always pleased to support their efforts, although doing so can be at a cost. There is still some homophobia in Ireland. While I was mayor of Waterford city, I was not able to take part in the gay parade because I was away at the time, but I held a reception for transgender, gay and lesbian people. Ms Lacey attended it. I received a number of obscene telephone calls - almost all of them were anonymous, of course - calling me everything under the sun.

Many of us in the Chamber are decent and honourable people. This legislation would not have been discussed ten or 15 years ago. I congratulate the Minister, who has always been a strong advocate of gay and lesbian rights. I would not take that away from her. I often congratulate her, although we disagree on some issues. If Members of Parliament cannot stand up for the civil rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people in the face of homophobia, who else will? Only we are capable of doing it, as we were elected. In fact, we were elected by many of the people in question.

There is an interesting statistic on how many people will be affected by this legislation. The Gender Identity Research and Education Society, GIRES, estimates the prevalence of gender variance at 1% in Ireland, or approximately 48,000 people - the number of people that live in Waterford city, according to the 2011 census. GIRES advises that organisations should assume that 1% of their employees and service users may be experiencing some degree of gender variance and that 0.2% may undergo transition.

As Deputy Crowe stated, we must move away from stigmatisation, which can happen when we talk about transgenderism.

These are ordinary people like the Minister, me and everybody else. If they are gay, lesbian or transsexual, so what? They are human beings and entitled to their sexual orientation.

I will not oppose the reduction in age from 18 years to 16, but I advise the joint committee, which is a very good one, to re-examine the physicians' statement and speak to TENI, the members of which have spoken to psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians, specialists and so on and come up with very good recommendations in their report. I am not sure what happens now in terms of whether a Bill will be brought before the Dáil, but that gives us time to change that aspect. However, the Minister should not change it just because I am asking her to do so. She should meet the representatives of the organisations involved and listen to what they have to say about it.

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