According to a new report by Amnesty International, European Countries are violating the human rights of people trying to change their legal gender identities. The report entitled ‘The State Decides Who I Am - Lack of Legal Gender Recognition For Transgender People in Europe’ details how transgender people in Europe are forced to undergo invasive surgery, sterilisation, hormone therapy or psychiatric testing before they can change their legal status.
Click here to download the Amnesty International report.
From an Irish perspective, the report is particularly critical of the Irish Government's slow progress on advancing gender recognition legislation. The Gender Recognition Bill, upon enactment would allow transgender people to legally change the sex they were assigned at birth indicated on their birth certificates.
The Bill is a direct result of both the FLAC-supported Lydia Foy case and the operation of the PILA pro bono referral scheme. In 2007 the High Court found that the impossibility for Dr. Foy to obtain an amended birth certificate in order to reflect her female identity was incompatible with the European Court of Human Rights. The Irish Government appealed against this decision in the Supreme Court, but eventually withdrew it in 2010, conceding that Irish law was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Following the Foy case, PILA connected the Transgender Equality Network of Ireland and FLAC with David Dodd BL, a PILA Pro Bono Register barrister. They worked together to draft a private member’s Bill on gender recognition, which was subsequently proposed in the Seanad by Independent Senator Katherine Zappone. Ultimately the combination of the ongoing Lydia Foy litigation and the proposal of the private members Bill increased pressure on the Government to publish an outline of the aforementioned Gender Recognition Bill.
Click here to read an article by Michael Farrell of FLAC on the Gender Recognition Bill.
In other transgender rights developments, the President of Malta awarded transgender campaigner Joanne Cassar the Medal for Service to the Republic on the island’s Republic Day last December to mark her contribution to establishing the rights of transgender persons. Ms Cassar had been refused permission to marry in her female gender and after a lengthy legal battle she had taken a case against the previous Maltese government to the European Court of Human Rights.
A new Labour government elected last April had immediately settled Ms Cassar’s case and amended the country’s marriage law to allow ‘trans’ people to marry in their preferred gender.
The official citation for Joanne Cassar’s award stated: “Last April, the present Government and Ms Cassar reached an out-of-court settlement as a result of which proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights ended. Subsequently, the right of persons to marry a person of the opposite sex to their acquired sex was legislated into the Marriage Act. This is an important development in our country towards which Ms Cassar contributed through her determination and perseverance.
“Malta is honouring Joanne Cassar in recognition of her distinguished service towards a fairer society and the common good of the people of Malta”.