In this section
Rules & Legislation
Legislation
Information and legislation relating to transsexual people in the United Kingdom.
The Act established the Gender Recognition Panel and outlines the criteria for obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate.
Gender Recognition Act 2004 
These notes help to detail and clarify the Act and should be read in conjunction with it.
Explanatory Notes to the Gender Recognition Act 2004
The Act enables same-sex couples to obtain legal recognition of their relationship by forming a civil partnership.
Civil Partnership Act 2004
Legal measures to prevent discrimination against transsexual people on the grounds of sex in pay and treatment in employment and vocational training. They apply in England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland is covered by similar regulations.
Sex Discrimination (Gender Reassignment) Regulations 1999
More information about sex discrimination regulations can be found in the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
Significant judgements
The Gender Recognition Act 2004 has been influenced by the judgements of the Courts.
In a judgment delivered at Strasbourg on 11 July 2002 in the case of Christine Goodwin v. the United Kingdom (application no. 28957/95), the European Court of Human Rights held unanimously that:
- There had been a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights;
- There had been a violation of Article 12 (right to marry);
They found that the UK Government has a positive obligation under international law to secure the Convention rights and freedoms and must rectify these ongoing breaches.
On 10th April 2003, the House of Lords gave judgement in the case of Bellinger v. Bellinger [2003] 2 All ER 593. Mrs Bellinger, a male-to-female transsexual person, was seeking legal recognition of her 1981 marriage to a man. Their Lordships were sympathetic to Mrs Bellinger´s plight but ruled that the marriage was void. They declared that section 11 (c) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 was incompatible with the Human Rights Act 1998. The result of this that legislation was needed to enable transsexual people to marry in their new gender.
Gender recognition application process
- On receipt of your application form, we will send you an acknowledgement.
- We will then take payment for the application.
- We will examine and verify your application. If we believe that we need additional information, we will write and tell you what other evidence you need to send us.
- Once we have collected all the evidence we will present your case to the panel.
- The panel may ask for more evidence - if they do, we will write and tell you what else you need to send us.
- The panel will then decide whether your application is successful or not.
- If your application is unsuccessful, we will write and tell you why.
- If the application is successful, we will inform the General Registrars Office and the Inland Revenue and we will send you your gender recognition certificate.
