Obviously, this is a Good Thing (we're one of only four European countries which have dragged their feet on this issue) and I was thinking of starting a thread on it myself - but I think it'll throw up a surprisingly large glut of legal inconsistences, contradictions and questions. Also a Good Thing in the long run, but I expect it'll take several years (and specimen/test cases) before all the wrinkles are ironed out.
When should someone be allowed to alter their birth certificate? Tying certification to genital modification surgery would falsely assume that a) all transpeople want genital surgery (around 50% of FTMs choose to go no further than mastectomy), and b) gender = genitalia. Allowing one to alter one's birth certificate beforehand however, is equally problematic and hugely open to abuse by those with other reasons for wishing to change their identities (or develop secondary ones). Then there's death certification to think of...
I've been working with transsexual people for a few months now, and am beginning to get some idea of the subtleties of the political landscape. Press For Change were at the big conference this summer; I'll have to check out their site to remind me of their particular agenda. |
