On Sunday 14th June The Sunday Times ran a front-page article about the government's decision to shelve much-needed reforms to the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA), a once-groundbreaking – but now outdated – piece of LGBT equality legislation which allowed people with gender dysphoria to change their legal gender. On top of this, plans were revealed to increase the exclusion of trans people from single-sex spaces.
According to the same Times report, 70% of respondents to 2018's public consultation on improvements to the GRA backed the idea of making it easier for trans people to be legally recognised and protected but government officials believe those results were "skewed by an avalanche of responders generated by trans rights groups".
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The dismissal of the results of the consultation, paired with the proposed plans of the equalities minister Liz Truss to "make sure that the under‑18s are protected from decisions that they could make that are irreversible" demonstrate a clear threat of rollbacks to trans rights, dignity and legal protections in the UK.
The charity Gendered Intelligence has put together a very straightforward form which you can use to write to the prime minister and your MP, urging them not to roll back on trans rights and letting them know why this is important to you. You can fill out the form quickly and easily here.
As Gendered Intelligence states on the form:
"This is an issue of human rights, and of bodily autonomy and integrity. If we allow trans young people to be stripped of their agency to make decisions around their healthcare and around which toilets they're legally allowed to use, next on the chopping block will be wider rights around access to abortion and contraception.
"A loss to trans youth is a loss for all. Excluding trans women from women's spaces would be a huge step in the wrong direction, and a monumental loss to the UK's proud human rights record."