Labour has quietly shelved plans to make it easier for people to legally change their gender amid concerns about the rising popularity of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Ministers have mothballed their promised reforms to simplify the process whereby anyone seeking to change gender in the UK must get approval from a panel of doctors and lawyers.
A Labour source confirmed to the Guardian that the changes were not a priority for the government and may not be brought forward before the next general election.
The Labour party has not formally scrapped its manifesto pledge to reform the gender recognition process, but the fact that legislation to implement it did not appear in the king’s speech reflects that it is not a priority for ministers.
The prime minister’s spokesperson told reporters: “The king’s speech sets out our legislative programme. But we stand by our commitment to modernise gender recognition rules as set out in the manifesto, and we’ll set out our next steps on this work in due course.”
Sources told the Times, which first reported the story, that the changes would have served as “catnip” for Farage and asked: “Why would we open that particular can of worms for ourselves at this particular moment?”
Under the existing UK-wide process brought about by the Gender Recognition Act, anyone seeking to legally change gender must live as their preferred gender for two years before seeking a gender recognition certificate. Obtaining the certificate is subject to approval by a panel of doctors and lawyers.
Labour had intended to drop the two-year requirement and replace the panel with a registrar system requiring signoff from just one doctor.
Writing for the Guardian in 2023, Anneliese Dodds, who was shadow equalities minister at the time, said the current process was “intrusive, outdated and humiliating” by requiring “a panel of anonymous doctors to decide something of momentous significance, based on reams of intrusive medical paperwork and evidence of any surgery”.
She wrote: “This is demeaning for trans people and meaningless in practice. A diagnosis provided by one doctor, with a registrar instead of a panel, should be enough. We will remove invasive bureaucracy and simplify the process.”
Labour confirmed this was still its position before the election last summer. The party’s manifesto promised to “modernise, simplify and reform the intrusive and outdated gender recognition law” and to “remove indignities for trans people who deserve recognition and acceptance whilst retaining the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria from a specialist doctor”.
The manifesto also pledged to maintain single-sex exceptions under the Equality Act and to deliver “a full trans-inclusive ban on conversion practices”, which is still expected to go ahead.
Labour strategists are concerned about the rise of Reform UK, which is neck-and-neck with Labour and the Conservatives in opinion polls.
In the US, Donald Trump made his anti-trans agenda a cornerstone of his winning presidential election campaign. Since entering office, he has signed executive orders stripping back transgender protections, ending government diversity and inclusion programmes and banning transgender athletes from female sport.
Nicola Sturgeon’s government in Scotland sought to implement a self-ID process in 2022. The move was endorsed by Holyrood in December 2022 but was blocked by Rishi Sunak’s government in Westminster the following month.
