Labour scraps self-ID commitment in ‘modernised’ Gender Recognition Act
“We are proud of the Equality Act and will oppose any Conservative attempt to undermine it.”
The shadow women and equalities secretary shared that Labour’s trans self-ID commitment has been scrapped.
In a column for the Guardian, Anneliese Dodds outlines that the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) will not include self-ID for trans people.
Dodds noted plans to “modernise, simplify and reform” the GRA has been walked back.
“Changing gender is not a decision anyone makes lightly. The process is intrusive, outdated and humiliating,” Dodds then wrote.
“So we will modernise, simplify and reform the gender recognition law to a new process. We will remove invasive bureaucracy and simplify the process.”
Dodds refers to the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) Gender Recognition Reform Bill in the article.
The reform was an attempt to remove the need for a medical diagnosis to maintain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).
The UK government then intervened and blocked the gender reform bill from passing.
Dodds also noted that SNP’s approach to the reform was “cavalier.” Furthermore, she wrote the approach “seemed to be more about picking a fight with Westminster than bringing about meaningful change.”
“The safeguards that were proposed to protect women and girls from predators who might abuse the system were simply not up to scratch,” she also added.
The policies “will not please everyone.”
“We will not make the same mistakes,” Dodds also continued. “We are proud of the Equality Act and will oppose any Conservative attempt to undermine it.”
Additionally, in defending the Equality Act, Dodds writes that amendments would ensure single-sex exemptions are not overridden.
“Put simply, this means that there will always be places where it is reasonable for biological women only to have access.
“Labour will defend those spaces, providing legal clarity for the providers of single-sex services.”
Dodds concluded that Labour’s policies “will not please everyone.” Also, she recognised they’re set to be “attacked from all sides, in good faith and bad”.