Seanad debates

Wednesday, 21 January 2015

Gender Recognition Bill 2014: Second Stage

 

1:30 pm

Photo of Gerard CraughwellGerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I welcome the Bill, which provides for legal recognition of preferred gender for transgender people. However, while applauding the Government for finally publishing this legislation and bringing it before the House, we should also acknowledge our collective shame that successive governments have failed to act on what is an essential and basic human right – the right to preferred legal gender identity. In failing to act before now, the State has shown a deep disrespect for transgender people and their families and for the European Court of Human Rights. In a country which prides itself on fair and equal treatment for all its citizens, the rights of transgender people have all but been ignored. It is seven years since the High Court ruled that Ireland's failure to recognise transgender people was a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is shocking that it is 21 years since Dr. Lydia Foy, who was with us earlier, first requested a new birth certificate in her female gender. We have heard Taoiseach after Taoiseach apologise for the wrongs of the State against children and for various other things down through the years, but we owe Dr. Foy a huge apology for having to divest herself of her privacy and come into the public domain in order to get what was a basic human right recognised. At some stage, somebody in this House or the Taoiseach should apologise to her and her many colleagues who have fought for so long.

Furthermore, Ireland has the dubious honour of being the only state in the European Union with no provision at all for recognising transgender people and their preferred gender. I am aware that both Sinn Féin and Senator Zappone brought forward gender recognition Bills and have actively campaigned for change but, sadly, the fact that this legislation is now before the Seanad is due more to the persistence and courageous advocacy of Dr. Foy, TENi and the transgender community than it is any policy maker or legislator. Transgender people have sought legal recourse in national and European courts and have put their necks on the line by bravely telling their stories to diverse audiences and service providers in an effort to effect social and legislative change.

What the transgender community is looking for is something that we all take for granted – a certificate which unequivocally states our gender as either male or female. It is a certificate which affords to us, as citizenship, the dignity of legal identity. It is a certificate that is a gateway document to a range of other legal documents, services and protections. There is ample evidence that not having consistent and accurate identity documents exposes transgender people to harassment and discrimination in the employment process, in accessing social services, in educational participation and in many other contexts.

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