If you’re a trans person in the UK, you might well be waking up to a rather unpleasant email from the Ministry of Justice, in response to a popular petition demanding that trans people of all genders be able to legally define our own status. The full text is here – I’m a little too upset to do it justice, but mealy-mouthed, lazy and inhumane is a start:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104639?reveal_response=yes
Buried at the end of the text are these choice lines:
The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination if it arises from their being perceived as either male or female. We recognize that a very small number of people consider themselves to be of neither gender. We are not aware that that results in any specific detriment, and it is not Government policy to identify such people for the purpose of issuing non-gender-specific official documents.
As a genderqueer trans person, it beggars belief that the discrimination and abuse I’ve suffered not be considered “specific detriment” – and a lot of other people outside of the binary feel the same way.
Please – if you’re able to, fill in this document and spread the word. Beyond the Binary, a UK-based organisation for all people who don’t fit the gender binary, are collecting responses.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KVxWylAipD8KcUrWHSCe5Axg07TRtE2uBETjRlgj6P4/viewform?c=0&w=1
Tweet with the hashtag #SpecificDetriment, email your local groups, stick it up on Tumblr – anyway you can spread the word is vital.
They can refuse to acknowledge us – but like fuck will they lie about what we suffer.
Filed under: trans
