Prime Minister Theresa May has reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to promoting LGBT rights, in an article for Gay Times magazine.
Writing ahead of events celebrating homosexuality, the Prime Minister said that an “action plan” will be released this summer.
Claiming that there is still “lots to do”, the Prime Minister also said the UK “can be proud that we are a world leader in advancing LGBT rights”.
Safeguards removed
Last week, her Government announced it will launch a consultation on removing safeguards in the Gender Recognition Act in the coming weeks.
The proposed changes are likely to include making it easier to change legal sex by allowing people to ‘self-identify’ their gender.
In her piece for Gay Times, the Prime Minister said her Government has “engaged with experts to understand better the limitations of the current system of gender recognition”.
Transsexual opposition
While the Government continues to push liberalisation, some transsexual people are against changing the law.
In a letter to the Guardian, 17 transsexuals said they were “deeply concerned” about proposals to remove safeguards.
They said that replacing the current process for changing sex with an “over-the-counter style self-declaration” blurs the distinction between those who have had surgery, and those who have no intention of doing so.
They added that it was problematic when male-bodied people “demand the rights afforded to women as a protected sex, including access to their private spaces”.