Medical check before gender change to be axed says PM

THERESA May last night vowed to make it easier for people to change gender.

As she announced plans to scrap medical checks, the Prime Minister said ‘being trans is not an illness and should not be treated as such’.

The current Gender Recognition Act allows people to change gender on their birth certificate, but critics have said the process is too complex and bureaucratic.

At the Pink News awards in London last night, Mrs May said she was committed to making Britain the best place in the world to be lesbian, gay or transgender.

She said she was proud to lead the most diverse Tory government ever ‘and of the long way we have come as a country on LGBT+ issues’, adding: ‘But there is still much more to do and I am committed to seeing that work through … so that we can build a better future for everyone in our society.’

Mrs May said the Government would press ahead with plans to reform the 2004 act, ‘streamlining and de-medicalising the process for changing gender’. Ministers launched a consultation on how to make the process less intrusive.

Current law says those wishing to make the change must be diagnosed with gender dysphoria, where a person’s biological sex and identity do not match.

Those wanting a gender change to be legally recognised need to apply for a certificate issued by the Gender Recognition Panel, a judicial body that legally determines what gender a person defines as. The person applying must provide evidence that they have been in transition for at least two years.