In the face of a recent rise in transphobia and lack of government support for LGBTQ+ rights, thousands in the U.K. have signed a petition demanding that the 10 Downing Street recognize non-binary identities as a legal gender.
The petition, which has 130,847 signatures as of publication time, would require that the U.K. government pass a law allowing non-binary people to be recognized as a third gender and included as an option under the Gender Recognition Act (GRA). The GRA, which was passed in 2004, allowed people to change their legal gender on their birth certificate, and created a process for making that change.
“By recognising non-binary as a valid gender identity, it would aid in the protection of non-binary individuals against transphobic hate crimes and would ease gender dysphoria experienced by non-binary people,” the petition reads.
As the petition has crossed the 10,000-signature threshold, the country’s parliament will consider it for debate. The legislature, which is composed of the House of Commons and House of Lords, will also be required to formally respond to it. According to the British LGBTQ+ publication PinkNews, the government has yet to do either.
The GRA currently requires a diagnosis of gender dysphoria — along with proof that the individual has lived as their gender for two years — in order for their birth certificate to be changed. Advocates say that requirement is unnecessarily invasive for trans people, who are essentially required to “prove” their gender to the government. Mermaids, a U.K. organization supporting trans youth, has called the requirements “degrading and unnecessary.”
In response to complaints about bureaucratic hurdles, the U.K. government stated in 2018 that they would be reviewing the process, with the intent of reforming the GRA. As a part of the review, the government conducted a survey from July to October 2018, which Westminster received over 100,000 responses and revealed widespread discontent over the requirements for “proof” of gender, as well as the costs associated with it. Of the respondents to the 2018 consultation, 64.7% revealed that they were in favor of changing the law to include non-binary people.
In response to the consultation’s results, the government promised to streamline the process and took steps such as allowing for gender change applications to be filed online and lowering the application fee from £140 ($195 in U.S. dollars) to £5 ($7). Advocates noted, however, that this does not reduce the other costs associated with acquiring documentation and changing other documents, such as passports.
Reforms to the GRA have stalled in recent years, however, with the U.K. government controversially abandoning plans to allow trans people to self-identify their gender last year. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is proving less than helpful in restarting those efforts: He was recently accused of creating a loophole in a proposed conversion therapy ban to exempt “praying the gay away” just as the government announced that it would be disbanding its LGBTQ+ advisory panel.
Currently, at least four European countries — Belgium, Germany, Malta, and Iceland — legally recognize non-binary genders. Various other states and territories around the world recognize non-binary genders in some capacity or allow “X” gender markers on legal documents.
These changes are often celebrated by LGBTQ+ advocates. Some activists question the focus on recognition of non-binary as a “third gender,” though, and instead call for the elimination of gender markers on legal documents altogether.
But recognition may feel particularly meaningful to trans people in the U.K. given the recent surge of transphobia in both political and cultural arenas. Despite studies that indicate vast support for trans people among younger generations, advocates are concerned about a recently documented surge in hate crimes, as well as last December’s high court ruling that restricted trans youth’s access to puberty blockers.
While that ruling was partially reversed, many say there is still work to be done to ensure that trans people in the U.K. can be free to be themselves. The legal recognition of non-binary genders would undoubtedly be a step in the right direction.
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