Clause 3 - Evidence
Gender Recognition Bill [Lords]
4:15 pm
Dr Evan Harris (Oxford West and Abingdon, Liberal Democrat)
I certainly intend to do that. I note that unfortunately the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak is not in her place; she warned us in advance that she would not be able to remain after 4 o'clock. I notice also that the hon. Member for St. Helens, South (Mr. Woodward) is not here, which is also unfortunate because of the work he has done on the Joint Committee on Human Rights. Nevertheless, we shall do what we can, even in the absence of their expertise.
The debate on this group of amendments will touch on the issue of marriage, and it is not my intention to go into the area of pensions. I shall stick closely to the
report of the Joint Committee on Human Rights during the last Session, when it commented on the draft Bill.
Amendment No. 56 is a paving amendment under clause 3, but it really applies to clause 4. The amendment in itself is not competent because it would not make all the subsequent amendments that would be necessary. I hope that the Minister will accept that. I do not intend to press the amendment to a Division, not least on that basis and for other reasons. The amendment represents the maximalist argument for the position taken by the Joint Committee in respect of marriage, and I shall quote from that Committee. Debates have taken place in the House of Lords, and we will not gain much by having a long debate in Committee, particularly given the pressing time due to the length of the previous debate. Therefore, I shall be brief. However, I shall explain a compromise arrangement that could be put to the Government. It is based on the date of the marriage—that is, whether it is a historic marriage or one entered into after the Bill is enacted.
In paragraph 81 of its 19th report of the 2002-03 Session, the Joint Committee said that the draft Bill
''also has important implications for the parties to marriages who were respectively male and female at the time of the wedding but one of whom subsequently seeks to change his or her sex or gender as a result of gender dysphoria . . . A person who is validly married in his or her birth gender would be unable to obtain a final gender recognition certificate unless the marriage is first annulled or dissolved.''
That has been carried through to the Bill.
The report recognises, as I do, that the Bill amends the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 to provide an easier way to dissolve a marriage in the event of someone suffering from gender dysphoria and seeking treatment to change gender; that is, the interim gender recognition certificate gives a fast-track approach to avoiding the marriage.
In paragraph 85, the Joint Committee says that when it initially examined the draft Bill it was
''deeply concerned about the way that people in stable marriages, perhaps with dependant children and strong family ties, would be pushed into ending the marriage if one of the parties suffers from gender dysphoria and wants legal recognition of his or her acquired gender. A number of the people who sent us written evidence provided eloquent testimony to the heartache and hardship which this might cause. As well as the emotional costs, the ending of a marriage could affect people financially, by depriving a surviving partner of widow's benefits or of the benefit of a pension, or of a right to damages under the Fatal Accidents Acts. It was also pointed out that the approach gives relatively little weight to the value of maintaining family life and the sacredness of marriage vows.''
That is a dilemma for a Government who seek to provide for full recognition of human rights, even if that was done after being prodded if not pushed into it by the European Court, but who also talk about the value of maintaining family life and the sacredness of marriage vows.