Exclusion of children from bill ’fundamentally wrong’

The exclusion of children from the Gender Recognition Bill 2014 has been described by Independent Senator Jillian van Turnhout as fundamentally wrong.

Tue, 16 Jun, 2015 - 01:00

Breda Graham

The Gender recognition Bill 2014 is to be considered by the Dáil Select Sub-Committee on Wednesday 17 June.

In a statement Senator van Turnhout said, "I cannot sit silently by as we tell trans children and young people to sit in the corner and wait for their rights to be upheld, maybe, at some point down the road."

"As a children’s rights activist I am profoundly disappointed that children under the age of 16, and given the onerousness of the process for 16 to 18 year olds we can say in effect all children, have been excluded from the provisions of the Gender Recognition Bill 2014," she said.

The Gender Recognoition Bill recognizes change of gender and enables a person to apply for formal legal recognition of their preferred gender.

"It is fundamentally wrong that this Bill does not provide a mechanism for legal recognition, even on an interim basis, of gender for trans children under 16 who seek it, where there is parental consent, support of the child’s GP and agreement that this is in the best interests of the child."

Senator van Turnhout tabled an amendment seeking such a compromise, an Interim Gender Recognition Certificate, at Report Stage of the Bill in the Seanad back on 17 February.

"It is important to stress that an Interim Gender Recognition Certificate for children is completely distinct and has no bearing on any decision that might be taken by a trans person to pursue medical intervention, such as hormone replacement therapy or to undergo gender reassignment surgery at a later stage in their lives."

"An Interim Gender Recognition Certificate for children would allow the rights and best interests of trans children to be promoted and protected in the period before the issue is revisited in the two year review."

Senator van Turnhout hopes the Government is prepared to deal with the question of trans children in this Bill. It is an opportunity to make a massive positive impact on the lives of trans children in Ireland and to ensure that we are not compounding and ignoring the needs of our most vulnerable citizens, according to Senator van Turnhout.