Advice on the General Scheme of the Gender Recognition Bill 2013

The Minister for Social Protection published the General Scheme of the Gender Recognition Bill on 17 July 2013. Under the proposed legislation, once a gender recognition certificate is issued to a person, the person’s gender will be recognised for all purposes, including dealings with the State, private and public bodies. Applications may be made by transgender persons or persons with intersex conditions.

The Bill must align itself fully with Ireland’s international human rights obligations relating to children. This includes the European Convention on Human Rights, which is relevant to young people’s right to gender recognition and, of course, ultimately provided the impetus for the drafting of this legislation to begin with. Legal developments in other jurisdictions are also instructive in considering how Ireland might approach the issue of recognising the preferred gender of those under the age of 18.

We believe that the current proposals will not operate in children and young people’s interest, nor vindicate their rights. We favour an alternative approach that would provide for a gender recognition mechanism for those under the age of 18 for the reasons set out in our advice.

• October 2013
• Type: Advice
• Topic: LGBTQ+