‘For the first time, she could tell people who she was’: Ireland’s gender recognition decade
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,“She was around 80,” Humphreys recalls, “and for the first time she was able to tell her friends and family she was transgender,She told me the relief she felt to be accepted by her own community, and by the state, in the last few years of her life,”“We were very fortunate in Ireland that we were able to do the legislation in an era of openness and progressive discussion,” he says.
In stark contrast with Scotland, where attempts by the Holyrood parliament to introduce a similar model prompted an explosion of grassroots opposition, the Irish process was relatively smooth,The bill passed a matter of months after the people of Ireland voted overwhelmingly to legalise same-sex marriage, which created “a whole moment socially around LGBT+ equality” says Daire Dempsey, the executive director of the Transgender Equality Network Ireland,This reflected a broader public desire to “move away from this vision of Ireland as a repressive, deeply Catholic place” and towards “a new sense of ourselves as a nation with modern, European values”, they add,In recent years, however, a handful of women’s groups have started to question the “unintended consequences” of the act, reflecting the rise in gender-critical campaigning across the UK,In the recent Irish presidential election campaign, candidates were challenged with the “what is a woman?” question that dominated last year’s UK general election.
Thanks to the notorious case of Barbie Kardashian, a violent offender who changed their name by deed poll and obtained a gender recognition certificate in 2020, and was transferred from a women’s prison to a male one during their sentence, custody is now a focus of emerging gender-critical concerns,An amendment to the GRA, which would limit its scope so the certificate no longer changes sex for the purposes of imprisonment, has passed its first stage,Barrister Laoise de Brun, who drafted the amendment, describes UK campaigners like the Sex Matters founder, Maya Forstater, as “an inspiration” who “created the framework for the fightback”,De Brun, who runs The Countess, a non-profit advocating for women, children and families, wants to see all female-only spaces excluded from the act,“Currently the state’s hands are tied in so many areas and this would unlatch the rules for places like domestic violence refuges and toilets.
”“Lobbyists achieved what they hoped to with the passing of the act, and the public felt they were shaking off the dark Catholic past and marching forwards to a new progressive paradigm,But we’re marching off the edge of a cliff if the end result is that fundamental societal norms are to be junked,”Dempsey and Humphreys frame the recent shift in different terms,“The rollback of rights and spread of misinformation about what a trans person is, which is happening globally,” says Dempsey, “we’re seeing some of that discourse starting to creep in here, though it hasn’t taken hold in the way that it has in the UK and in the US,”Dempsey and Humphreys emphasise the “huge” amount of consultation undertaken before 2015, achieving an all-party consensus.
The “very few” concerns Humphreys says were raised at the time about the impact on women-only spaces were met by building in a yearly review of the law.Una Mullally, the author of In the Name of Love: The Movement for Marriage Equality in Ireland, argues that mainstream Irish feminism has historically been more inclusive.“There is a core of solidarity in Irish culture more generally that cuts across those lines of class and gender and doesn’t find itself entrenched in them as much as it does in Britain,” she says.Mullally attended Dublin’s first Dyke March in more than 25 years earlier this year.“It was fully trans inclusive and there was this great sense of pride that cohesion and solidarity is being maintained,” she adds.
Over the decade, the numbers undertaking the process have been modest.A total of 1,881 certificates were granted up to the end of last year, with 17 applications refused, no revocations and annual applications levelling out in the low 300s.Over the years those changing gender from male to female have very slightly outnumbered those female to male.The act also set out a separate process for 16- and 17-year-olds requiring parental consent and supporting documents from a doctor and psychiatrist, which has granted 24 certificates over the decade.“It validates who I am,” says Ann, who received her Irish GRC in 2023 and describes the “simplicity” of posting her witnessed documents on a Monday and getting the certificate back on the Wednesday.
“The big thing for me is having official documentation like a passport with the correct gender, which is comforting.”“In terms of public perception of the act, I think most Irish people don’t care.They’re happy to let trans people get on with it.”
A meat-free Christmas: Chantelle Nicholson’s French mushroom pie, caramelised pear pud and more
Christmas for me began as a summertime celebration in New Zealand, with long days and warm evenings. Twenty-plus years on, the wintry cosiness of a UK Christmas has taken hold. Now, my essentials include perfectly crisp roast potatoes with plenty of gravy, and sprouts (non-negotiable). Even my young niece and nephew love them, which is a small victory I’m quietly proud of.Warm gougerès fresh from the oven are a pretty tricky thing to beat
10 of the best Australian sparkling wines for every budget
If my Spotify Wrapped is anything to go by, I’ve spent a suspicious amount of time with Phil Collins this year. While I’ve been listening to Another Day in Paradise, champagne prices have been climbing, and finding quaffable Australian traditional method sparkling under $30 is becoming more challenging, as local bubbles float up with their imported counterparts.Against all odds, there are still a few affordable, excellent Australian sparkling wines out there, along with many worth splashing out for. While I can’t promise these wines come with the same 80s flair as Phil Collins, they’re bottles I’ll be putting on high rotation over the festive season.1
Cosmopolitan Christmas: Stosie Madi’s French-African-Lebanese Christmas lunch – recipes
I was born in west Africa, and brought up between there, France and the UK in a French-Lebanese-British family. Unsurprisingly, then, our Christmas lunch was more than a bit diverse: my father always insisted on some British and Lebanese elements, while my mother contributed French dishes and technique; west African produce was also a must, because the house would be full of all nationalities, including our African family. Not only that, but our Christmas would invariably start with a guest list of about 20, and another 20 or so waifs and strays would always then turn up in need of feeding and watering. Today’s dishes were part of our regular seasonal festivities, as good in the sunshine as they are robust enough for a chilly British winter.Lebanese feasts always feature some form of pie, and sambouseks are tiny little ones with various fillings
From a showstopping pavlova to a £7 sherry: what top chefs bring to Christmas dinner
Looking for a great supermarket champagne? Need an easy recipe to take to a party? Or just some really good cheese… Yotam Ottolenghi, Giorgio Locatelli, Ixta Belfrage and others reveal the best snacks, drinks and desserts to make and buy for the big dayThe Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.Christmas is a time of overwhelming choice, especially when it comes to food. So, to help you navigate the festive feasting, we asked 16 top chefs and cooks to tell us what they buy or make to give to the people brave enough to invite them over
A fresh take on wine pairings for Christmas dessert
It may well be that you already have a drink that you traditionally like to sip on after dinner (or lunch), and who am I to tell you that needs to change? Even so, I have a few ideas for drinks you might like to try instead.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.Let’s start with the classics
How to eat, drink and be merry – while pregnant – at Christmas
For a festival with childbirth at its religious heart, it is perverse how much of our traditional Christmas spread isn’t recommended for pregnant women. Pre-pregnancy, this was not something I’d clocked. I was the soft cheese supremo, canape queen – at my happiest with a smoked trout blini in one hand and a champagne flute in the other. Then one day in October, two blue lines appeared on a test result and everything started to change: my body, my future and most pressingly my Christmas.The Guardian’s journalism is independent
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