UK review of gender recognition list risks 'trans travel ban'

Source: The Guardian

UK review of gender recognition list risks ‘trans travel ban’

Campaigners condemn government plan to update list of countries whose GR certificates are automatically recognised

Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent
Tue 10 Jan 2023 20.51 GMT
First published on Tue 10 Jan 2023 14.42 GMT

Rishi Sunak has been told he risks “re-toxifying” his government’s record on LGBTQ+ rights and introducing “an effective trans travel ban” after the equalities minister announced a review of countries whose process for changing gender on legal documents is recognised by the UK.

Kemi Badenoch notified the Commons on Monday of plans to update the list of approved countries and territories whose gender recognition certificates (GRCs) are automatically recognised by UK officials.

She suggested that reciprocal recognition would be withdrawn from places “where there is a clear indication that the country now no longer has a system at least as rigorous as those in the Gender Recognition Act 2004”.

In recent years a number of countries have simplified the process by which transgender individuals can legally change their birth certificates, with some introducing a process known as self-declaration, which was recently approved amid some controversy by the Scottish parliament. People with certificates from countries excluded from the list have to apply for a UK certificate separately.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/10/tories-review-lgbtq-gender-recognition-certificate-deal