Protesters demand change in Trans legislation

Protesters gathered outside Leinster House in the city centre on Saturday afternoon over the proposed Gender Recognition Bill 2014.

The protest – dubbed the Rally for Recognition by organisers and human rights group LGBT Noise – enabled transgender people in particular to voice their concerns at legislation currently being debated in the House of the Oireachtas.

Among the principal objections to the contested legislation is the current necessity for a married transgender person to divorce before remarrying under their newly recognised gender.

Speaking at the rally, Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan said, “The Government’s Gender Equality Bill is an insult to transgender people and should be amended to respect their dignity.”

“No person should be forced to get divorced in order to have their gender recognised,” she added.

Cearbhall Turraoin from LGBT Noise pointed to the large numbers of people set for exclusion should the legislation pass in its current form.

“The Government is trying to bring in a piece of legislation which is obsolete before it has even been enacted.”

He highlighted transgender persons under the age of sixteen who will be unable to gain legal recognition, as well as non-binary individuals (those who don’t identify as either male or female) who he said the legislation will “automatically exclude”.

The protest sought to both broaden and strengthen the currently-debated legislation stemming from the case of Dr Lydia Foy who, in 2007, saw a High Court ruling find that the State was in breach of its obligations under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights as it failed to recognise her in her female gender and had not provided her with a new birth certificate.

Photo: Sara R. Phillips/Facebook