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New gender law needs to recognise trans people’s privacy and right to a family life (Ireland)
New gender law needs to recognise trans people’s privacy and right to a family lifeOpinion: People are forcibly “outed” every time they are asked to produce a birth certificate
Broden Giambrone
Thu, Aug 7, 2014
In June Time published a cover story titled “The Transgender Tipping Point” and featured Laverne Cox, a star of the hit TV series Orange is the New Black, as the first openly transgender person to grace the cover of this seminal magazine. However, while transgender (or trans) issues are finally entering the mainstream media and gaining much- needed visibility, many members of the trans community still exist on the fringes of Irish society and experience high levels of stigmatisation and discrimination.
A major cause of the marginalisation of trans people in Ireland is the lack of State recognition of trans identities. While you can change your gender marker on certain documents such as your passport or driving licence, there is no legal process to change the gender on your birth cert.
This is critical, as birth certificates are an important identity document in the State and are furnished at key moments in all of our lives. We have to produce a birth certificate to obtain a PPS number, to access social welfare, and to marry. At Transgender Equality Network Ireland (Teni), we regularly hear about the negative impact of the State’s lack of recognition for trans people...
...People are forcibly “outed” every time they are asked to produce a birth certificate. Young people miss out on their college places because the CAO office has no capacity for dealing with trans people. Trans people have to explain ourselves – to validate our identity – over and over. But legal gender recognition goes beyond the practicalities of daily life; it is about the State recognising that we exist.
MORE at http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/new-gender-law-needs-to-recognise-trans-people-s-privacy-and-right-to-a-family-life-1.1889400