10 October, 201427 November, 2014 Trans* Jersey

Media links: Results of survey of election candidates

BBC Radio Jersey: Sunday 19 October 2014 (timecode: 01:52)

Jersey Evening Post: Friday 10 October 2014

BBC Radio Jersey: Saturday 11 October 2014 (timecode: 01:07)

Channel Island equality charity Liberate and affiliate group Trans*Jersey asked those standing for election to the States of Jersey for their view on LGBTQ issues. The results show a strong commitment to equality by the 2014 election hopefuls.

Liberate and Trans* Jersey emailed all 69 candidates standing for election to the States of Jersey asking them to complete an online questionnaire about the most pressing issues affecting the island’s LGBTQ community. 45 candidates responded (65%), of which 9 did not complete the questionnaire.

Jersey Co-ordinator for Liberate Vic Tanner Davy said:

“We are really pleased with the response from the election candidates to our questionnaire and we would like to thank those who took the time to do so. The fact that 65% of the candidates responded demonstrates that there is a realisation that LGBTQ issues will need to be addressed by the States in the coming term if Jersey is going to be taken seriously as a modern democracy that believes in equality for all its citizens regardless of race, gender, sexuality or ability.

“Even those candidates who did not feel they could complete the questionnaire demonstrated a willingness to engage with us and our issues, which is encouraging.”

The full answers and comments provided by candidates can be accessed here: Link to survey results

Headline results

Support for equal marriage: Of the 35 respondents to this question, 28 (80%) were in favour of same-sex civil marriage and same-sex religious marriage that includes an opt-out for faiths who do not wish to celebrate same-sex marriages.

Support for civil partnerships for opposite-sex couples: Of the 34 respondents to this question, 28 (82%) were in favour of opening up civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples.

Inconclusive response to the question of how to equalise adultery under the law: Of the 31 respondents to this question, 42% wanted to introduce adultery as grounds for dissolving a civil partnership, 32% wanted a new definition of adultery in law and 23% wanted to remove adultery as grounds for divorce in marriage.

Support for no discrimination exemptions (with the exception of religious organisations): Of the 32 respondents to this question, 28 (88%) were against any exemptions for businesses or service providers allowing them to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender reassignment.

Some support for introducing the “X” marker: Of the 29 respondents to this question, 23 (79%) were in favour of introducing the use of the internationally recognised “X” marker by the passport office and registry office, allowing those who wish to register themselves as gender-neutral or intersex to do so.

Overwhelming support for allowing same-sex couples to adopt: All 32 respondents to this question were in favour of same-sex couples being allowed to adopt as a couple.

Some support for inclusive sex education in schools: Of the 29 respondents to this question, 24 (83%) were in favour of compulsory, age-appropriate, LGBTQ-inclusive Sex and Relationship Education in all schools.

Some support for removing the ban on blood donation by homosexual men: Of the 25 respondents to this question, 21 (84%) were in favour of removing the restriction.

Some support for self-reporting of gender transition: Of the 22 respondents to this question, 21 (96%) were in favour of removing the requirement to have obtained a gender recognition certificate from another jurisdiction before a transperson’s gender could be registered in the Royal Court.

Jersey Co-ordinator for Liberate Vic Tanner Davy said:

“It is clear from the number of responses to each question that the issues of equal marriage and discrimination have been well aired and are well understood by the candidates. The other issues that are of importance to LGBTQ islanders are not so familiar and caused candidates some problems in answering. Many felt they did not have enough information to respond at present. This shows us where we need to do some work to better inform our elected representatives.

“The most pleasing result was the overwhelming support for a change to allow same-sex couples to adopt as a couple. The comments from candidates on this issue highlighted the importance of placing children in loving homes irrespective of the gender of the adoptive parents. This view from the candidates is something we will be looking to build on and we will seek to work with the States on it sooner rather than later.”

Those candidates who chose not to engage with the LGBTQ community by responding to the questionnaire were: Gerard Baudains, Jane Blakeley, Simon Bree, Rod Bryans, Ian Gorst, Andrew Green, Angela Jeune, David Johnson, Konrad Kruszynski, Russell Labey, Chris Lamy, John le Bailly, Andrew Lewis, Kevin Lewis, Murray Norton, Mary Osmond, Darius Pearce, Susie Pinel, Hugh Raymond, Richard Renouf, David Richardson, Richard Rondel, Paul Routier, Graham Truscott.

To find out more about the candidates who are standing in your parish or district, go to vote.je where a full list of candidates can be found. Election day is 15 October so don’t forget to vote!

4 October, 201427 April, 2015 Trans* Jersey

Media links: Questionning the 2014 election candidates

Channel Island equality charity Liberate and affiliate group Trans*Jersey are asking those standing for election to the States of Jersey for their view on LGBTQ issues.

Liberate and Trans* Jersey have emailed all the candidates standing for election to the States of Jersey asking them to complete an online questionnaire about the most pressing issues affecting the island’s LGBTQ community.

The results of the questionnaire will be publicly available on the Liberate and Trans* Jersey websites (www.liberate.gg and transjersey.org). Candidates are asked to complete the questionnaire by 8 October 2014.

Jersey Co-ordinator for Liberate Vic Tanner Davy said:

“2015 is going to be a big year for Jersey’s LGBTQ population with the introduction of anti-discrimination legislation in September and debates on how to introduce marriage for same-sex couples. However, there are other issues that affect the LGBTQ population that have yet to be discussed in the States but are no less important to the approximately 10% of islanders who identify as LGBTQ. It is right that Liberate and Trans* Jersey, organisations that represents the LGBTQ community, ask candidates for their views on these issues, issues that are likely to be put before the States for debate in the next term, the term in which the candidates will serve, if elected.”

Candidates are being asked the following 10 questions:

Which of the options for same-sex marriage being proposed by the Chief Minister’s consultation document of 20 August 2014 (Equal Marriage and Partnership) would have your support?
Would you support the opening up of civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples?
Which of the options for equalising adultery as a cause for dissolving a marriage being proposed by the Chief Minister’s consultation document of 20 August 2014 (Equal Marriage and Partnership) would have your support?
Apart from religious organisations that are exempt, are there any other businesses or service providers that would have your support to have the right, in certain circumstances, to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation?
Apart from religious organisations that are exempt, are there any other businesses or service providers that would have your support to have the right, in certain circumstances, to discriminate on the grounds of gender reassignment?
Would you support the introduction of the use of the internationally recognised X marker by the passport office and registry office to denote someone whose gender is self-determined as neither M nor F? (For example, in the case of a child born with an intersex condition or “DSD” whose parents did not wish to register their child’s gender as M or F until later in life.)
Would you support the removal of the restrictions on adoption by same-sex couples? At present, same-sex couples cannot apply to adopt jointly. However, one partner may submit an application supported by the other. In other words, single parents may adopt but same-sex couples in a civil partnership may not.
Would you support compulsory, age-appropriate, LGBTQ-inclusive Sex and Relationship Education in all schools?
Would you support the removal of the restrictions on blood donation by homosexual men? At present, homosexual men may not donate blood if they have had sexual contact in the last 12 months. There is no exception for homosexual men in committed monogamous partnerships.
Would you support revising the Gender Recognition (Jersey) Law 2010 to remove the requirement for a gender recognition certificate from an approved jurisdiction to be presented and replace the process with a system by which a transgender individual self-reports their transition to the Royal Court (in much the same way that a change of name by deed poll is self-reported and passed through the Royal Court)?

For candidates standing for election, the questions can be accessed here: Link to candidate survey

To find out more about the candidates who are standing in your parish or district, go to vote.je where a full list of candidates can be found. Election day is 15 October so don’t forget to vote!

15 May, 2014 Trans* Jersey

Summary of UK trans* issues

The following is taken from a paper produced in May 2014 by the UK charity, GIRES. It is a useful summary of the issues facing trans* citizens and the groups working with them for equality.

Introduction

The numbers of transgender people presenting for medical treatment is increasing by 20% pa. This figure rises to 50% for young people. EHRC estimates that 1% of the population fall under the protected characteristic of gender reassignment.

Transgender people are the victims of unequal treatment under the law. This sets a dreadful example and fuels the discriminatory and sometimes violent and abusive treatment experienced by many trans people.

The current government has chosen to ignore a growing cohort of younger people who do not identify with the gender binary. Many such people have no protection under the 2010 Equality Act and have no mechanism to get appropriate ID. In effect they are being excluded from Society.

Surely in 2015 equality and enjoyment of full Human Rights shouldbe an entitlement of all?

A course of action is requested to achieve the following end state:

(a) having no legislation permitting discrimination on the grounds of gender identity or non gender binary identification;

(b) truly equal marriage;

(d) education for younger people to eliminate prejudice in the longer term; and

(e) new medical treatment models to cope with the rapidly increasing numbers presenting for treatment.

Government must come to realise that people cannot be categorised into neat boxes and its obsession in trying to do so is making life very difficult for many!

A summary of requested actions is given below. [More detail on each section can be found in separate posts]:

1. Legislative revisions [More detail on this can be found here]

Equality Act 2010: Remove any rights to legally discriminate against transgender people. Grant protections to those who do not fit into the gender binary.

Gender Recognition Act 2004: Trans people find the process of having their assertions of gender incongruence checked for truth by the Gender Recognition Panel a degrading and patronising (and also expensive and protracted) process. The Act was introduced to address the lack of same sex marriage in the UK and is no longer relevant, and indeed divisive. Given that gender related discrimination is no longer permitted in the UK, a legal change of gender on birth certificates should be a self driven administrative process.

Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013: The Spousal Veto must be removed if this remains in the Act when the trans marriage regulations are passed later in 2014. The marriages of couples who were forced to annul and subsequently formed civil partnerships should be reinstated. Government assertions “that the past cannot be rewritten” are hollow given that birth certificates, and soon marriage certificates, can now be altered.

Matrimonial Causes Act 1973: Section 12(h) (non disclosure of gender history) must be withdrawn. Under this provision trans people are singled out for treatment not applied to any other group. Furthermore, as one does not have to disclose (for example) that one is a convicted murderer or married to another) before having sex, why can one be imprisoned for not doing so if one has a trans history?

Application of EU law to pension claimants: Despite very clear and well established superior European Court of Justice case law, the Department of Work and Pensions, supported by some but not all Courts, continues to act unlawfully towards some transgender pension claimants.

2. Non gender binary issues [More detail on this can be found here]

Marriage laws: Gendered language in ceremonies should be optional.

Passports: The introduction of the X marker on passports is long overdue. The conclusion of a recent Passport Office report on this topic was that there is no demand for X markers contradicted the evidence it received.

Birth Certificates: As part of the new provisions following the Gender Recognition Act a mechanism should be introduced to allow the sex classification to be removed or changed or an “X” category added.GIRES encourages direct communication with the appropriate communities.

3. Education [More detail on this can be found here]

It is the experience of GIRES that many in government do not understand the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity. This is vividly demonstrated by married trans people and their spouses “being shoehorned into arrangements for gay and lesbian people” (evidence: Commons Committee Stage, Same Sex Marriage Bill). However, the route to combating transphobia longer term is to introduce awareness training on diversity, early in the education process, in schools.

4. Medical treatment of trans people [More detail on this can be found here]

Despite some recent progress in improved treatment protocols, the growing numbers presenting for medical help are now overwhelming the specialist clinics. Although gender dysphoria is no longer accepted as a psychiatric condition, treatment generally remains under the control of specialist clinics led by psychiatrists. Inappropriate treatment and increasing delays are harming transgender people. New treatment models must be implemented to ensure timely and flexible treatment packages that make best use of the funds available.

Trans* Jersey’s response to the proposals in GIRES’ report

Because so much of Jersey’s transgender and transsexual population’s experience is as a result of having treatment in the UK or acquiring their gender recognition certificate from the UK, these issues affect us, too. Trans* Jersey, therefore, wholly supports the aims and proposals of GIRES and the other trans* organisations working to reform the law in the UK.

To find out more about how Jersey trans* individuals are affected by each of the four proposals listed above, click on the links to more detail where we outline the proposed change in greater depth and explain how we would like to see the States of Jersey tackle these issues.