#gender-recognition-act

#gender-recognition-act

Soon after Ireland passed its Gender Recognition Act in 2015, Kevin Humphreys, a Labour politician, visited a residential home for senior citizens where an older woman thanked him for the new law. It was Humphreys who, as the minister of state for social protection 10 years ago, guided through the legislation that has meant transgender people in Ireland can apply to have their lived gender legally recognised by the state through a simple self-certification process.

In his first session, he fought for the repeal of the state's anti-loitering law that was nicknamed "Walking While Trans." It was often used against transgender women of color, supposedly for engaging in sex work, whether or not they were doing so. Trans and gender-nonconforming people could be stopped by police for even wearing a skirt or standing on the sidewalk at a point other than a taxi stand or bus stop.