Ministers to consider closing selfid ‘loophole’
No requirement to provide documentation with a gender change on driving licence and passport
MINISTERS are considering closing a “major loophole” that allows people to self-identify their gender on passports and driving licences.
At present there is no requirement for people to present a gender recognition certificate (GRC) if they want to change the sex recorded on official government documents. Freedom of information requests show that between 2018 and 2022, HM Passport Office approved more than 3,000 requests for people to change their “sex marker”.
Campaigners say the loophole creates “self-id by the back door” and leads to a danger that single-sex spaces for women and girls could be compromised, as passports and driving licences are commonly used for identification.
Kemi Badenoch, the equalities minister, wants to close the loophole but needs the support of other departments. The Daily Telegraph understands that she raised the issue with Suella Braverman when she was home secretary, and followed it up with a letter to her successor, James Cleverly.
A government source said: “This is a major loophole that is made more problematic by the fact that passports and driving licences are frequently used as the evidence when applying for a gender recognition certificate.”
The request submitted by campaigner Payton Mcintosh revealed that in 2022, there were 259 requests for people to change their sex from male to female, and 269 female to male.
Between 2018 and 2022, some 3,188 requests to change the sex marker were approved.
It is not known how many of these had a GRC – which normally requires a person to have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and for them to have been living in their affirmed gender for at least two years.
However, only around 6,000 certificates had been issued by the end of 2021 since their introduction in the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
Tory MP Miriam Cates raised the issue in the Commons last month. She asked Ms Badenoch to do more to “stop this self-id by the back door”.
“Sex matters, in life and in law, and it is right that the UK has its own rigorous processes for gaining GRCS, but these safeguards do not apply to the process of changing sex markers on passports and driving licences,” she said.
Ms Badenoch replied that it was an example of how the law needs updating.
“The reason that we have this is not that the Government supported self-id but that before the same sex marriage law came into being we wanted people to be able to change their legal documents so that they could get married,” she said. “Now that we have a law that has fixed that, we should look again at some of the [earlier] measures.”
A petition calling on the Government to stop official documents listing a person’s
‘This is problematic as passports and licences are often used as evidence when applying for a GRC’
acquired gender as their sex has reached 12,500 signatures. The Government responded that while they are “committed to protecting the rights of transgender people”, they wanted to ensure that “these rights are appropriately balanced with the rights of others”.
The response went on to say: “Systems are in place to support transgender people in obtaining a passport or driving licence in their acquired gender, without the need for a gender recognition certificate.
“Passports and driving licences are often part of the evidence provided by transgender people to the gender recognition panel to obtain a GRC.
“The Government is committed to maintaining the safeguards that allow organisations to provide single-sex services. It is important the principle of being able to operate spaces reserved for women and girls is maintained.
“We are absolutely committed to championing the rights of women and girls,” the response added.