Current Version
| Region | Saint Helena |
| Issue | Legal recognition of non-binary gender |
| Status | Not legally recognized |
| Start Date | (unknown) |
| End Date | (none) |
| Description | The UK's Gender Recognition Act 2004 allows for a person to change their legal gender to either 'male' or 'female'; there is no third gender option. In 2021, the UK government said (in response to a petition) that legal recognition of non-binary gender identity would have "complex practical consequences for other areas of the law, service provision and public life", and said that they felt existing legislation allowing people to change their legal gender went far enough. Courts have, however, ruled that people with non-binary identities are protected from discrimination by the Equality Act. On 4 October 2023, then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asserted his stance on gender identity in a speech at the Conservative Party conference, stating it was “common sense” that “a man is a man and a woman is a woman”. In January 2024, the High Court in London ruled that (in the case of a US citizen trying to have their non-binary identity recognised in the UK), "We have decided that whenever the Gender Recognition Act refers to ‘gender’ it refers to a binary concept – that is, to male, or to female gender. The GRP [Gender Recognition Panel] accordingly, had and has no power to issue a gender recognition certificate to the claimant which says that they are ‘non-binary’". The act applied to the entire UK, and Scotland's attempts to recognise non-binary genders have all failed. |
| Sources | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/7 https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/05/21/non-binary-legal-gender-recognition-petition-cabinet-office-response/ https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/580220 https://www.willans.co.uk/knowledge/equality-act-gender-fluid-non-binary-individuals-protected/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/17/non-binary-us-citizen-loses-attempt-gender-recognised-uk |
Revision History (1)
created by jadeywadey
Helpful?
0 | Original entry | |
|---|---|
| Status | Not legally recognized |
| Start Date | (unknown) |
| End Date | (none) |
| Description | The UK's Gender Recognition Act 2004 allows for a person to change their legal gender to either 'male' or 'female'; there is no third gender option. In 2021, the UK government said (in response to a petition) that legal recognition of non-binary gender identity would have "complex practical consequences for other areas of the law, service provision and public life", and said that they felt existing legislation allowing people to change their legal gender went far enough. Courts have, however, ruled that people with non-binary identities are protected from discrimination by the Equality Act. On 4 October 2023, then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asserted his stance on gender identity in a speech at the Conservative Party conference, stating it was “common sense” that “a man is a man and a woman is a woman”. In January 2024, the High Court in London ruled that (in the case of a US citizen trying to have their non-binary identity recognised in the UK), "We have decided that whenever the Gender Recognition Act refers to ‘gender’ it refers to a binary concept – that is, to male, or to female gender. The GRP [Gender Recognition Panel] accordingly, had and has no power to issue a gender recognition certificate to the claimant which says that they are ‘non-binary’". The act applied to the entire UK, and Scotland's attempts to recognise non-binary genders have all failed. |
| Sources | https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/7 https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/05/21/non-binary-legal-gender-recognition-petition-cabinet-office-response/ https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/580220 https://www.willans.co.uk/knowledge/equality-act-gender-fluid-non-binary-individuals-protected/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/17/non-binary-us-citizen-loses-attempt-gender-recognised-uk |