Monday 31st July 2000

Transsexuals offered hope in new report

By Graham Readfearn

TRANSSEXUALS are calling for new legislation from the Government to allow them to change the gender on their birth certificates

A new 60-page Home Office report on the legal problems faced by transsexuals, which crossed 12 Government departments, has been greeted with optimism by transsexuals who claim the current laws create a host of problems for them in everyday life.

Many transsexuals are put off applying for jobs, benefits and insurance because they risk having their private lives exposed.

Lobby group Press for Change says that out of the 37 European states, only the UK, Albania, Andorra and the Republic of Ireland fail to have a mechanism to help them.

Vice-president Claire McNab, from Bradford, said: “It is an absolute disgrace that Britain has waited so long but this is a huge step because for the first time the Government has acknowledged there is a problem and a need for change.”

Issues surrounding transsexuals hit the headlines earlier this year after the Yorkshire Post revealed that Lisa Jones, from Huddersfield, had been awarded £1,000 in an out-of-court settlement after being barred from her local pub.

Ms McNab said the new report was a “watershed in thinking” from the Government.

“This is about all the things that most people just take for granted.  Not just getting called names on the street, but the bits of paperwork that you need to get you through life — the fundamental documentation we have is not useful,” she said.

The group says that despite being issued with corrected passports and driving licences reflecting their true gender, transsexual people remain legally in the gender assigned to them at birth.

Apart from being unable to conduct a valid marriage, their tax and social security records retain the original gender, and insurance policies may be invalidated if they do not declare their legal status.

Copyright © 2000 Yorkshire Post Newspapers