The number of people applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) has reached a new record. Government figures revealed that there were 1,397 applications in 2023-24 and, of those, 1,088 were granted. Labour has vowed to simplify the process of changing gender, meaning that the numbers could rise further.
Is this something to celebrate? Or should we be worried? These are already big numbers for a life-changing process that was originally envisaged to serve a vanishingly small group of people. The stats from 2023-24 aren’t a one-off: since the pandemic, the numbers have been growing year-on-year. To put it in context, only 3,925 applications were made in the 12 years between 2007/8 and 2018/19 – an average of 327 per year. This indicates a jump of over 400 per cent from that baseline.
This matters. A GRC changes an individual’s gender ‘for all purposes’, according to the 2004 Gender Recognition Act. Section 22 of the Act then shrouds that change in secrecy, ‘It is an offence for a person who has acquired protected information in an official capacity to disclose the information to any other person.’
In practical terms, someone with a GRC can assert that they are the sex they claim to be, and nobody can prove otherwise – at least from official documentation. Birth certificates changed with a GRC look just the same as any other birth certificate. If a man who acquired a GRC for nefarious purposes demanded access to women’s single-sex services, the provider would struggle to prove he was indeed a man.
Two years ago, after ForWomenScotland challenged this absurdity in court, Judge Lady Haldane ruled that, ‘the meaning of sex for the purposes of the 2010 [Equality] Act, ‘sex’ is not limited to biological or birth sex, but includes those in possession of a GRC obtained in accordance with the 2004 Act stating their acquired gender, and thus their sex.’ [my emphasis]
Under British law then, not only can a woman have a penis, but someone of the female sex can have a penis – because there is no need for someone to change their body to acquire a GRC. It’s total madness, and it is a major safeguarding vulnerability that leaves women unable to defend their boundaries.
Then-prime minister Theresa May pledged in 2017 to let people change their gender without any medical checks. Thankfully her successors have seen the risks of such folly, but the gatekeeping is hardly rigorous. Two medical reports and a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and Bob’s your aunt. While the queue for NHS gender services snakes into the distance, several private providers offer consultations at a price. But when the diagnostic criteria for gender dysphoria are based on the testimony of a patient who is effectively a customer, how do we know that clinicians won’t simply agree with whatever the patient tells them?
Two decades ago, most applicants were older, and male. These days there are increasing numbers of young people in the mix – in the latest figures, almost 200 applicants were under 25 years of age. Are these young people fully aware of how their lives will change as a result?
While so many people seem to want a GRC, it’s not clear to me what good it will do them in the long run. It’s certainly not a necessity for transsexuals. I transitioned – socially, medically and surgically – some years ago but I never bothered to apply for a GRC. My birth certificate might still announce my sex (correctly) as male, but rarely does that document leave my filing cabinet. Much more important is how other people perceive me. Indeed, if a transition is not good enough without a GRC then it will not be good enough with one. Unless, that is, the holder wants to ignore the perceptions of others and force their way into places that they might not be wanted. Then it becomes the ace of trumps.
Labour’s manifesto promise to ‘modernise, simplify, and reform the intrusive and outdated gender recognition law’ has not yet featured in its legislative programme, but it has not been retracted. So while Keir Stamer might finally have twigged that a woman has a vagina and a man has a penis, his party could risk making it simpler for applicants to the use the law to state otherwise. That is the wrong direction of travel.
If the Gender Recognition Act is here to stay, it needs to be toughened up. When the most basic of boundaries – the legal distinction between male and female – is at stake this matters not just to the increasing number of people with a GRC, but to everyone.
Debbie Hayton is a teacher and journalist.
Her book, Transsexual Apostate – My Journey Back to Reality is published by Forum
* This article was first published by The Spectator on 3 September 2024: Why are a record number of Brits applying to change their gender?
Debbie Hayton 
4 replies on “Why are a record number of Brits applying to change their gender?”
I heard that this was seen as a way to hide previous dubious activity from the authorities. A ‘Fresh’ start as it were?
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The privacy afforded by a GRC is similar to witness protection. Like witness protection, a GRC holder’s history is no secret from the police and the courts. But they are duty bound to maintain confidentiality.
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LOL – you gotta laugh or you’d despair. This whole thing is like a comedic horror film: The Day the West Went Bonkers.
The evidence is overwhelming that far too many men use transition for sexual/pornographic and oppressive, misogynistic reasons (and a few to avoid the stigma of being that kind of predator) and girls and women are making vain attempts to escape their femaleness for complementary reasons, not wanting to be second-class citizens, the “weaker sex”, and “holes”, sex objects for men’s gratification. Yeah, says the Labour Party (and others), Let’s make that easier and hide the switcheroo from ordinary folks.
I saw your reply to Pauline – wouldn’t it be comforting to know at least the police knew the facts of someone’s past, if only the police weren’t woke-ridden, sworn to secrecy, and corrupt af? So what if Mr Plod decides she’s a lesbian, ffs, and none of the plebs can prove otherwise?
I see you’re momentarily featured in the newish documentary, Behind the Looking Glass, Debbie, among the throng of autogynophiles. I’ve not finished watching it, but you’re in the first few minutes. https://youtu.be/Frffv2sB8zE?t=124 I wonder how you feel about the “huge amount of social recognition and legal support” you have, not to mention your “aledged victimhood” that “features prominently across mainstream media.” Yikes. I’m sorry this seems to lump you in with those imposing nefarious abuse of wives and families – did you agree to have your photo displayed in such a damning review of male psychological and physical abuse?
Your work, of course, proves otherwise. Campaigning against the right to deceive, I think we know which side of history you’re on. Thanks again for that work, which must be very difficult in your circumstances.
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My view is that AGP is introverted male heterosexuality that leads to a short circuit when the male becomes attracted to the thought of himself as a woman. I’ve written about that several times. I just don’t think there is any benefit in denying it or shaming it (as a condition). I want to understand it and explain it. in the sexual attractions. AGP males who behave badly need to be called out rather than celebrated, but isn’t that true for everyone who behaves badly?
I did not agree to have that photo displayed. But it was a professional photo taken to accompany an interview back in 2016. Copyright will belong to someone else, but it has entered the public domain by now.
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