Download Joan Burton TD, Minister for Social Protection Áras Mhic Dhiarmada

Joan Burton TD, Minister for Social Protection
Áras Mhic Dhiarmada
Store Street
Dublin 1
Dear Minister Burton,
RE: Gender Recognition Legislation
As an advocate for human rights, I am writing to express my deep disappointment at the lack of progress
made in legislating for transgender and intersex people in this country.
The damage caused by delaying gender recognition is significant for Ireland’s trans community, their families
and friends.
The continued delay amounts to ignoring the needs and rights of people across Ireland, from a farmer in
Donegal to a college student in Maynooth. And the cost of ignoring those rights is real. On a daily basis, the
lack of gender recognition legislation causes harm: from losing a college place to being denied welfare
payment to being unable to marry a beloved partner. Identity documents are often queried, with trans people
forced to explain the different gender markers on their documents. People are asked ‘Whose ID have you
stolen?” and are forced to ‘out’ themselves over and over. Some people are denied the right to travel
because of difficulties gaining a passport denoting their true gender. On 5 December 2012 a young man
spoke before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection. He shared his experience
of speaking to a civil servant working in Welfare, who queried the different name and gender marker on his
birth certificate, compared to his other identification. When he explained that he was a trans man, the person
laughed at him and hung up the phone.
Trans people in Ireland have a suicide attempt rate of 40%. The fact that they continue to be denied their
civil and human rights is a factor in their sense of despair.
I understand that the introduction of Gender Recognition currently stands on the ‘C’ list for 2014.
The trans community in Ireland needs your support now. Please prioritise Gender Recognition: let the Heads
of Bill be discussed and introduced as a matter of urgency. We need to accord equal rights to transgender
and intersex people in our country – for all our sakes.
Yours sincerely,