About time

Foy birth cert action ended

Transgender woman Lydia Foy epitomises the determination and courage only those who believe they are being denied a basic human right and are determined to see that right vindicated sometimes show.

Dr Foy yesterday effectively ended a 21-year action against the State aimed at securing a birth certificate in her acquired female gender. The settlement was agreed because the High Court was assured of the Government’s “firm intention” to enact the necessary laws “as soon as possible” in 2015. This agreement came six years after a ruling that a failure to provide an appropriate birth certificate breached the European Convention on Human Rights. This has been a long and difficult case for Dr Foy and it must be hoped that the Government commitment is delivered as soon as is possible and without further complications.

This is another milestone along the long, lonely and sometimes hateful road to the point where a person’s sexual identity is no longer an opportunity to discriminate against them or threat them with disrespect. About time too.