Transgender case ruling means that identity barriers in Northern Ireland ‘have been removed’

Barriers to transgender people in Northern Ireland securing official acknowledgment of their preferred identity are to be removed by a settlement reached yesterday in a High Court challenge.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Sep 2021, 09:46 BST
Updated 25th Sep 2021, 09:49 BST
The Belfast Health Trust has agreed to provide the woman with access to the necessary consultantThe Belfast Health Trust has agreed to provide the woman with access to the necessary consultant
The Belfast Health Trust has agreed to provide the woman with access to the necessary consultant

Earlier this year a judge ruled that requiring a woman seeking a gender recognition certificate to prove she is suffering from a “disorder” was incompatible with her human rights.

Issues remained unresolved over the obligation for applicants to provide two medical reports - one from a GP and the other from a specialist in the field of gender dysphoria.

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But the Belfast Health Trust has now agreed to provide the woman, referred to as JR 111, with access to the necessary consultant.

It will also fund assessments and reports for current and previous patients at a regional gender identity clinic located in the city.

With the confirmation bringing an end to JR 111’s challenge, her solicitor described the outcome as a great relief after spending years trying to obtain medical reports.

Ciaran Moynagh of Phoenix Law said: “More widely, it is a significant development for all trans people in Northern Ireland who are seeking a gender recognition certificate but have faced the same fundamental barrier.

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“This barrier of not being able to access a specialist medical practitioner no longer exists and individuals should have confidence to make an application.”

The woman at the centre of the case, who began her transition more than 20 years ago, took legal action in a bid to obtain a new birth certificate.

In May this year a High Court judge ruled that the specific requirement to prove she was suffering from a disorder was unjustified and incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

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