Election day (4 July 2024) will soon be upon us. It’s important that trans voters – and our allies – ensure our voices are heard on voting day
BY NIC CROSARA, IMAGE BY AFRICA IMAGES
With a general election around the corner (4 July 2024), many trans voters (and our allies) may be wondering which party best supports their rights. We’re living during an alarming time for the transgender community. Time and time again we see trans existence debated in much of the mainstream media. Our current Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak has also made jokes at the expense of trans individuals while he’s been addressing the nation. He is far from the only politician to do so. Alarmingly, the Conservatives recently announced that, should they win the election, they’ll rewrite the Equality Act to exclude transgender people from single-sex spaces.
Several countries – New Zealand, Spain and Switzerland, to name a few – have introduced self-ID for trans people, allowing them to change their sex legally and without a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Will the UK ever bring in any similar legislation and where do these five parties stand when it comes to self-ID for transgender people?
Scottish National Party (SNP)
Compared to some other parties, the SNP has been very progressive when it comes to their views surrounding trans issues. Self-ID has been a core part of their former manifestos.
The party introduced the Gender Recognition Reform Scotland bill in March 2022. However, the UK government used Section 35 to block the progressive bill that would have seen transformative progress for trans rights in Scotland.
Former Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has cited abuse over trans reforms as a factor in her resignation. She also stated that trans individuals are being used as a “battering ram” in politics.
The newly elected leader, John Swinney, has admitted that Nicola’s self-ID plans would be difficult to implement now. “The reality of the situation we face is that the Supreme Court said we can’t legislate in that area. We can’t take forward that legislation,” he told Sky News.
While the party remains committed to implementing the policy, it seems they may need to consider what the political landscape turns out to be.
Conservatives
While the Tories are now opposed to self-ID, this wasn’t their official stance until 2020. Former Prime Minister Theresa May supported “de-medicalising” the process. And in 2018 a consultation on reforming the GRA took place. It received about 100,000 responses. And what was the outcome? Well, a majority of people were in favour of allowing people to self-identify as a man or a woman.
However, in 2020, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson scrapped self-ID plans completely. As previously mentioned, in 2023, now PM Rishi Sunak blocked the progressive bill passed by Scottish parliament to introduce self-ID.
Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch has been very outspoken on her thoughts on trans rights. She believes gender affirming care is a “form of conversion therapy” and that trans foreign national coming from countries with self-identification should have to provide medical reports in the UK.
Green Party
In previous years, the party has shown support for trans people and self-ID. Back in 2021, the party confirmed that they support “trans, non-binary, and genderqueer people to live their lives without discrimination or state or medicinal interference.”
The Green Party have also advocated to remove legal barriers that trans people face when they become parents. This would mean having their gender properly recognised on their child’s birth certificate.
The party’s LGBTQIA group, LGBTIQA+ Greens, has published information dispelling myths surrounding self-identification for the trans community.
The party’s deputy leader Zack Polanski spoke to Attitude magazine saying: “Solidarity with trans people. It’s really important we recognise when they come for one of us, they come for all of us.”
Labour
During Labour leader Keir Starmer’s 2020 leadership campaign, the MP vowed to stick to the party’s previous commitment to de-medicalise the process surrounding self-ID for trans people. He later stated that the party was committed to updating the GRA (Gender Recognition Act) and to introduce self-declaration as well.
Just over three years later and Labour announced that it was ruling out a self-ID system. On top of this, the party would keep the need for a gender dysphoria diagnosis in order to obtain a GRC. This notably went against the position of Scottish Labour, who had voted to remove such requirements.
Liberal Democrats
Back in 2019, Jo Swinson – who was the party’s leader at the time – defended her stance on transgender rights. She supported plans to make it easier for people to legally change gender. She advocated for the law to recognise non-binary gender identities and for people to self-identify without medical evidence.
In the same year, the Lib Dems promised to introduce an “X” gender option on passports. The party also called to extend equality law to cover gender identity and expression.
Helen Belcher is a trans activist and Liberal Democrat politician. She told DIVA that: “The Liberal Democrats have long been committed to reforming the gender recognition process so that trans people can have legal recognition of their gender while their autonomy is respected, including through removing the requirement for medical reports. This model – which was supported by the Conservatives in 2018 – is already used in many jurisdictions where incidents of fraudulent declarations are remarkably rare.”
How to vote in a general election
If you’re not already registered to vote, and you wish to vote in this upcoming general election, you must do so by 18 June. You can find out more about how to register and how to vote here.
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