MPs have criticized ministers for holding back on plans to help change the gender of women.
They said the decision by Liz Truss to scrap reforms designed to allow people to ‘self-identify’ their gender was ‘unfair’.
In 2018, the Government under Theresa May promised to make it easier for people to legally change their gender by removing the requirement that they have to be seen by a doctor to test whether they have a condition called ‘gender dysphoria’.
In September of last year, Miss Truss, equalities minister and Foreign Secretary overturned that decision.
Liz Truss (Equalities Minister) scrapped plans to allow trans people to self-identify’, as had been promised under Theresa May’s Government.
According to her, those who wish to alter their gender identity would need to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
The Commons women and equalities committee said this meant the process of receiving a gender recognition certificate was ‘overly medicalised’, and called on Miss Truss to change her decision.
The MPs called on the government to establish a self-declaration system, in which people can declare who they are, regardless of gender.
But two of the committee’s members – Tory MPs Jackie Doyle-Price and Philip Davies – voted against many of the report’s conclusions.
Last night Mrs Doyle-Price ‘paid tribute’ to the Government for shifting its position on self-identification, and raised concerns about other aspects of the report.
Conservative MP Jackie Doyle-Price (pictured) raised concerns with a report by the Commons women and equalities committee which called for a system of self-declaration, where people are allowed to assert themselves whether they are a man or a woman
‘There’s a conflict of rights here: The right of the 0.5 per cent who are trans should not override the rights of the 51 per cent who are women,’ she said.
‘I’m keen to keep medical diagnosis for people for a gender recognition certificate.
‘We need to do more to bolster the integrity of women’s sport or it will be destroyed, and I am concerned about the rights of women in prisons.’
But Tory MP Caroline Nokes, the committee’s chairman, said: ‘The Gender Recognition Act (GRA) is crying out for modernisation, and the Government has spectacularly missed its opportunity.
‘Being trans is not an illness. It is imperative that the Government de-medicalise the process of gender recognition by removing the outdated requirement for a gender dysphoria diagnosis.’
According to the committee, spouses shouldn’t be able to prevent their partner from receiving gender recognition certificates.
MPs called for ministers’ removal of the two-year requirement that transgender people live with the other gender.
A spokesman for the Government Equality Hub said: ‘The Government believes the current provisions in the GRA are effective and allow for those who wish to legally change their gender to do so.’