Posted by on |

Seemingly in response to some combination of Scotland’s now quashed Gender Recognition Reform and my lawsuit, on the UK’s openly transphobic “Minister for Women and Equalities”, Kemi Badenoch, announced on 9th January 2023 that the list of the foreign countries and territories for which documentation is accepted under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA) would be updated.

The GRA’s foreign recognition provision offers a streamlined process to those who have approved documentation correcting their gender. It sees very little use, only a handful of people every year. There is no evidence that this process has ever been abused.

Under the “standard” path for gender recognition in the UK, transgender individuals must provide extensive evidence that requires a lot of time and money to obtain. The requirements are so burdensome that less than 5% of transgender individuals in the UK have been able to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).

Kemi made her plan clear — anywhere offering “self-id” was going to be purged from the approved list. A statutory instrument to do that was introduced 6th December 2023. It was approved yesterday, 18th March 2024. The changes are extensive — twenty-five US states (plus Washington, DC), four Australian territories, and twenty-five entire countries have been cut.

Note: as of :ord:`21` March 2024 the SI has not yet been signed into law, but my understanding is that Kemi is likely to do that any day.

List of Countries and Territories Removed: (click/tap to expand)
  • United States
    • California
    • Colorado
    • District of Columbia
    • Florida
    • Hawaii
    • Illinois
    • Maine
    • Michigan
    • Minnesota
    • Mississippi
    • Montana
    • Nevada
    • New Jersey
    • New Mexico
    • New York
    • Oklahoma
    • Oregon
    • Rhode Island
    • South Carolina
    • South Dakota
    • Utah
    • Vermont
    • Virginia
    • Washington
    • West Virginia
    • Wyoming
  • Australia
    • Northern Territory
    • South Australia
    • Tasmania
    • Victoria
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Canada
  • Denmark
  • Finland
  • France
  • Greece
  • Iceland
  • Liechtenstein
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Mexico
  • Moldova
  • The Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Russia
  • Serbia
  • Singapore
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • Uruguay

The explanitory memorandum includes a point seemingly aimed at me: “nonbinary people [can] only apply for a binary identity on their UK GRC.”

This statutory instrument had no rational basis. There is no evidence that self-id gender recognition systems are abused in any way. The sole intent was to harm transgender and nonbinary people.

Trans people living in the UK who have recognition from an affected country or territory can still apply under the old list, but they have very limited time to do so.

I made what noise I could about this, but I am currently stretched thin. I’m nonbinary, and three years ago decided to seek legal recognition of my gender via the courts. When I applied for a GRC using my California birth certificate listing me as “Nonbinary”, it was actually granted. That was farther than I expected to get, but unfortunately they refused to put “nonbinary” on a GRC for me, as the law appears to require.

The legal proceedings are ongoing. I’m raising funds via CrowdJustice to offset the costs of the case. Donations go directly to my lawyers.

Aside from donations, I need to get my story out. Please tell others about what’s happening here.