Written evidence submitted by Mr Gareth William Monk [GRA1500]

I am submitting this evidence as an ally to the LGBTQ+ community. I have trans friends who I care deeply about who are being actively hurt by the current GRA process.

Trans people deserve to have open and easy to access to services that allow them to live their lives. They are people who deserve as much care and respect as anyone else. They should not have to wait 6-8 months for a group of strangers to determine their “right” to transition, and that process should not be overburdened with unnecessary bureaucracy.

Trans people should not be years into their transition and living their lives as they truly wish to and then be denied the legal right to do so. This process actively hurts trans people and should be either scrapped entirely and replaced or reformed in such a way so that it protects and supports trans people. To do anything else would be wilfully malicious and harmful.

Trans people are not, and have never been, any sort of “threat” to any person or idea. They are people trying to live their lives and the government’s current GRA process is stifling them. Please do the right thing.

November 2020