§ Lord Tebbitasked Her Majesty's Government:
What objective tests they expect to be applied following the enactment of the Gender Recognition Bill in the determination of the sex of persons who are litigants in civil actions or the accused in criminal actions where that is a relevant matter under the law. [HL673]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs (Lord Filkin)The general principle of the Gender Recognition Bill is that a transsexual person's acquired gender will be recognised in UK law for all purposes from the date of issue of a certificate of gender recognition by the Gender Recognition Panel. Clause 9 of the Bill clearly states that, if the acquired gender is male, the person's sex becomes that of a man and if the acquired gender is female, the perons's sex becomes that of a woman. Therefore, the sex of persons who are litigants in civil actions or the accused in criminal actions will be taken to be the gender in which he or she is recognised by law.