We have won same-sex marriage. Now we must fight for trans* rights.

This afternoon the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill passed its final stage in the House of Lords, making same-sex marriage legal in England and Wales. This is a huge victory for the LGBT movement after 20 years of campaigning. Same-sex couples can now have their relationship legally recognised on an equal footing to opposite-sex couples for the first time in British history, but this is not the final battle.

Throughout the height of campaigning for the bill, trans* people have been almost entirely erased from the discussion, most visibly by Stonewall (AKA S’onewall). Stonewall is the leading LGB rights organisation in the UK, but has had the pomposity to call this bill ‘equal’ marriage. We do not have truly equal marriage, and won’t do so for a long time. We must fight for non-binary and poly* relationships to be legally recognised in the same way.

The impact that this bill has on trans* people is complex. Before the bill, trans* people who were in a marriage or a civil partnership and wanted their affirmed gender legally recognised (for example, for pensions, or simply to help with dysphoria) by having it changed on their birth certificate, were forced to end the marriage or civil partnership, get the Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) (which changes the birth certificate), and then enter into the “other” form – the option of “marriage” or of “civil partnership” permitted to the affirmed gender of the individual. For a GRC to be issued, the trans* person has to be living as their affirmed (binary) gender for two years, which implies to a reasonable degree of certainty that their spouse would be aware of their transition. Now, instead of a divorce, for the GRC to be issued and the trans* person to have their birth certificate changed, the spouse has to consent to their partner being granted a GRC and the conversion of the union between opposite and same sex. This form of consent requires a statutory declaration signed in front of a solicitor, which also costs money.

Given that 51% of trans* people who come out to their partner or spouse can expect a negative reaction in the long term, 29% of trans* people stated that their spouse has made getting a divorce difficult, and 44% of partners and spouses have actively attempted to prevent their trans* partner from transitioning*, this creates a situation in which trans* people are at a high risk of having their access to being legally recognised as their affirmed gender blocked by a partner, possibly even a partner that they are trying to divorce.

Worst still, some have claimed that this is the final frontier of queer rights and that we are now equal. This is not the case. LGB and T people are still the subject of some of the most violent attacks in the UK.

In June 2012, gay teenager Steven Simpson was burnt to death for being gay and autistic at his 18^th birthday party by Jordan Sheard. Sheard received just 3 ½ years imprisonment for Steven’s murder. Sheard’s lawyer described it as “the result of a criminally stupid prank that went wrong in a bad way.” The verdict of manslaughter was widely condemned; however nothing further has come of it.

Lucy Meadows was a school teacher who was hounded by the right-wing press for being a trans woman. On 19^th March, Lucy was found dead in her home after committing suicide. The response from the press, primarily the Daily Mail and its bigot-in-chief Richard Littlejohn, was entirely unapologetic. This is just one of a string of transphobic attacks in recent years.

These deaths are a call to arms for the fight for true equality. Same-sex marriage is limited and will do little to curb this trend of violence against queer people. Fighting homophobia, biphobia and, most of all, transphobia should be the priority in our movement over the coming years.

Jack (LGBT+ officer) and Matt (Disabled students officer)

* http://www.c4em.org.uk/drop-the-spousal-veto/

Self-definition and Disability

Like the other liberation strands, self-definition is a complex phrase here. Do I consider myself disabled? I don’t know. Not in the sense of “being disabled is a part of my identity”, in the way that the fact that I’m a guy, or the fact that I’m bisexual is, certainly. However, in the sense of “I logically know I am disabled” then yes, I do. How, therefore, do we define who “is” a disabled student – if we say “those who self-define as disabled” we run the risk of excluding people who are disabled but wouldn’t consider themselves that way, like, to some extent I don’t. If we use a legal definition of “disabled” we run the risk of excluding the same people that the law excludes, and also the risk of people not seeing themselves as “disabled enough” to be a part of it.

What I’ve seen the University of York Disabled Students Network doing, and what I think is great, is using the following definition “those who self-define as disabled, who meet the legal definition of having a disability, or have reason to access or consider accessing disability support services during their degree”. I’d say that’s a good way of looking at it, and includes as many people as possible within the label, so that’s the one I’m going to use in terms of advertising the Disabled Students Network (when I set it up), and in terms of focussing my work.

However, it’s still more complex than that. When people think “disability” they tend to think “wheelchair” (which my presence probably doesn’t help with), but actually conditions that are disabling can be far more varied than that. Learning impairments, difficulties and differences such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, autistic spectrum conditions, ADHD, and related, mental health conditions such as depression, eating disorders, psychotic disorders, personality disorders, and more, sensory impairments such as visual or auditory impairment, physical impairments or those that affect energy levels such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome / ME, diabetes, epilepsy, neurological conditions in general, autoimmune conditions in general, such as lupus or Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, the list could go on for hours and I still wouldn’t mention everything. It’s a vast group of people with very different needs, but it’s also a group of people that is consistently underrepresented, and that faces under-access to university, higher financial costs for being at university, and a rising rate of discrimination in society.

As a result, if you feel like you fit the definition I gave above (which includes self-defining), feel free to contact me, or come along to events once the new term starts and they get organised. If you’re not sure if you fit or not, feel free to email me (I’ll put my address up once I have it) or comment here, and we’ll talk about it. If you want to get on board and help, definitely contact me!

Matt