The United Kingdom must allow trans people to live their lives with dignity

Written declaration No. 760 | Doc. 15695 | 09 May 2023

Signatories:

Ms Hannah BARDELL, United Kingdom, NR ; Ms Thórhildur Sunna ÆVARSDÓTTIR, Iceland, SOC ; Mr Kriton-Ilias ARSENIS, Greece, UEL ; Ms Petra BAYR, Austria, SOC ; Mr Fourat BEN CHIKHA, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Margreet De BOER, Netherlands, SOC ; Mr Iulian BULAI, Romania, ALDE ; Mr François CALVET, France, EPP/CD ; Ms Laura CASTEL, Spain, UEL ; Mr Pedro CEGONHO, Portugal, SOC ; Mr Jeremy CORBYN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Constantinos EFSTATHIOU, Cyprus, SOC ; Mr Paul GAVAN, Ireland, UEL ; Mr George KATROUGALOS, Greece, UEL ; Mr Christophe LACROIX, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Thomas PRINGLE, Ireland, UEL ; Lord Simon RUSSELL, United Kingdom, EC/DA ; Mr Frank SCHWABE, Germany, SOC ; Mr Tommy SHEPPARD, United Kingdom, NR ; Ms Petra STIENEN, Netherlands, ALDE ; Mr Robert TROY, Ireland, ALDE

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, passed in December 2022 by democratically elected members of the Scottish Parliament from across every political party, was the most consulted-on piece of legislation in the history of the Scottish Parliament.

It is fully in line with international human rights standards, which call for legal gender recognition to be quick, transparent, accessible, and based on self-determination. The World Health Organisation is also clear that requiring a diagnosis of gender dysphoria is both outdated and discriminatory and that legislation and healthcare should be modernised to better represent and support the trans community.

Many European and Commonwealth nations, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Switzerland, have already passed legislation similar to Scotland’s, and the UK Government had also made clear commitments to reform the Gender Recognition Act.

It is deeply regrettable that the UK Government has now chosen to stand in the way of equality, human rights and progress.

We therefore urge the UK Government to reverse its decision to invoke section 35 of the Scotland Act to block the Scottish Government’s legislation designed to ensure trans people can live their lives with dignity.