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 18th 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 19th 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)
No comments:
Post a Comment