As very succinctly put by the IESOGI, in a letter to the government of the UK:^{[: p. 3]}

gender identity must be recognised by law, and implemented under a standard of self-identification.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights goes into more detail, recommending that:^{[: p. 121]}

states should provide a straightforward administrative process to officially recognize the self-identified gender identity and name of transgender persons through a simple declaration without such requirements as medical certification or diagnosis, surgery or medical treatment, divorce or sterilization. This process should include the ability to obtain new official documents reflecting self-identified gender, first name, gender marker and appearance. [...] Legislation should allow for recognition of non-binary gender identities. Minors should have access to recognition of their gender identity.

This is supported in another of the IESOGI's reports:^{[: ¶21 and ¶23]}

Self-determined gender is a fundamental part of a person’s free and autonomous choice in relation to roles, feelings, forms of expression and behaviours, and a corner stone of the person’s identity. The resulting obligation of States is to provide access to gender recognition in a manner consistent with the rights to freedom from discrimination, equal protection of the law, privacy, identity and freedom of expression. [...] lack of legal recognition negates the identity of the concerned persons to such an extent that it provokes what can be described as a fundamental rupture of State obligations.

Furthermore, the Yogyakarta Principles establish that states shall:^{[: Principle 3(B-C)]}

take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to fully respect and legally recognise each person’s self-defined gender identity;

take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to ensure that procedures exist whereby all state-issued identity papers which indicate a person’s gender/sex — including birth certificates, passports, electoral records and other documents — reflect the person’s profound self-defined gender identity;

This is expanded upon in the Yogyakarta Principles plus 10, which call on states to:^{[: Principle 31(C)]}

While sex or gender continues to be registered:

1. Ensure a quick, transparent, and accessible mechanism that legally recognises and affirms each person’s self-defined gender identity;
2. Make available a multiplicity of gender marker options;
3. Ensure that no eligibility criteria, such as medical or psychological interventions, a psycho-medical diagnosis, minimum or maximum age, economic status, health, marital or parental status, or any other third party opinion, shall be a prerequisite to change one’s name, legal sex or gender;

The IESOGI combats so-called “gender-critical” arguments (more below):^{[: p. 13]}

the human rights of trans women are not dependent on the hypothetical risk that predatory men could disguise themselves as such and perpetrate crime [...]

in the countries that have legal recognition of gender identity based on self-identification, there is no credible evidence to suggest systemic risk of predatory men using the process of identifying and living as a woman as an opportunity to perpetrate gender or sexual-based violence.

These opinions are not restricted to the UN either (not that it would matter if so); the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called on states to:^{[: ¶6.2]}

develop quick, transparent and accessible procedures, based on self-determination, for changing the name and registered sex of transgender people on birth certificates, identity cards, passports, educational certificates and other similar documents; make these procedures available for all people who seek to use them, irrespective of age, medical status, financial situation or police record;

abolish sterilisation and other compulsory medical treatment, as well as a mental health diagnosis, as a necessary legal requirement to recognise a person’s gender identity in laws regulating the procedure for changing a name and registered gender;

consider including a third gender option in identity documents for those who seek it;

UK law recognises gender through a person’s “legal sex”, which is either male or female, and can be “modified” for most purposes by a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).

GRC Process

To apply for a GRC, you must:^{[, : §2]}

• Be at least 18,
• Have transitioned from male to female, or female to male,
• Be diagnosed with gender dysphoria, and
• Have been living in your gender for at least 2 years.

You must also provide:

• A statutory declaration, stating that the above are true, the sex you have transitioned to, the date on which you transitioned, whether you are married or in a civil partnership, and details thereof,
• Your certified birth/adoption certificate,
• Evidence of name changes, where you have changed your name,
• Evidence that you’ve lived in your affirmed gender for the last 2 years,
• Two medical reports, one being written by an expert in gender identity and specifying:
  • Your diagnosis of gender dysphoria,
  • The reasons for this diagnosis.
  Either of the reports must also specify any/all gender-affirming treatment you have had and plan to have.

For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16

The UK Supreme Court, in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers, decided that:

1. “Sex”, in the Equality Act 2010, refers to one’s sex assigned at birth, and is not modified by a GRC, and
2. The disapplication of the Gender Recognition Act 2004, by virtue of subsection 9(3)(1) of that Act, does not need to be explicit.

This change in legislative interpretation removed trans people’s right to access single-sex spaces and enforced a discriminatory, reductive, definition of sex in law.

Self-ID

The UK does not operate on a system of self-identification; on 19 March 2025, the Government said:^[]

The Gender Recognition Act 2004 is a robust piece of legislation that reflects the seriousness of changing a person’s legal gender. The Government will not be introducing self-identification.

This is at odds to the international opinion that:^{[: p. 3]}

gender identity must be recognised by law, and implemented under a standard of self-identification

This was most recently recommended to the UK by the IESOGI on 11 April 2024:^{[: p. 17]}

[The UK should] simplify the administrative process of legal recognition of gender identity, in accordance with internationally recognized good practices of legal recognition of gender identity based on self-determination by the applicant, without abusive requirements, including for non-binary persons and children;

Medical Requirements

A system of self-identification would necessarily do without any medical requirement, but it is still interesting to interrogate on its own. On 19 March 2025, the Government said (my emphasis):^[]

The Government is committed to modernising, simplifying and reforming the legal gender recognition process to remove indignities for trans people whilst retaining the need for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

However, it was previously recommended by the House of Commons' Women and Equalities Committee that:^{[: ¶97]}

The Government should remove the diagnosis of gender dysphoria from the Gender Recognition Act by 2023, reflecting the support for this in responses to its own consultation.

This is supported by a vast array of international resources listed prior.

Most recently, a trans man was refused a GRC because he was trying to conceive;^[] this seems blatantly contrary to the prior-analysed statements that gender recognition must not require sterilisation.^{[e.g., : p. 121]}

Non-Binary Genders

The UK only recognises “male” and “female”; UK courts have upheld this as being inline with international obligations.^{[, ]} This, of course, goes against the recommendation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that “legislation should allow for recognition of non-binary gender identities”^{[: p. 121]}, Council of Europe recommendation that “[states should] consider including a third gender option in identity documents for those who seek it”,^{[: 6.2.4]} and others.

Children

As one must be 18 or older to apply for a GRC, this process is not open to children. This is contrary to international opinion and recommendations.

Timescales

Nominally, the GRC process should take 2 years (“have been living in your gender for at least 2 years”) + 22 weeks (“the panel will usually look at your application within 22 weeks of applying”). However, this overlooks the drastic issues with accessing healthcare right now.

As a GRC application requires a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, one must consider the time that that takes to get. Such a diagnosis is only made from practitioners within a Gender Identity Clinic (GIC). To get a diagnosis, one will need to:

1. Get referred, as some clinics do not allow for self-referrals (note: success in being referred is dependent on how accepting one’s GP is),
2. Wait for 1-8 years for the first appointment (typically on the higher end of that range),^[]
3. Wait around 1 year for a second appointment, where a diagnosis may be made.