Gender Recognition Act Consultation Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for International Trade
Lloyd Russell-Moyle
Main Page: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)Department Debates - View all Lloyd Russell-Moyle's debates with the Department for International Trade
Gender Recognition Act Consultation
Lloyd Russell-Moyle Excerpts(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Elizabeth Truss
I certainly agree that healthcare is the big issue of concern to transgender people, which is why we are focusing on improving the service received from the national health service. Of course, it is the Health and Social Care Secretary who is in overall charge of that, and I would be very happy to facilitate further meetings with Dr Michael Brady, our LGBT health adviser, and, of course, the Department of Health and Social Care, to make sure that we get this right and reduce those waiting lists.
Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton, Kemptown) (Lab/Co-op)
I welcome the fact that the Minister has tried to take some of the heat out of this discussion and that she has at least come forward with some conclusions, because the wait has caused many of the problems. However, I fail to understand how her administrative changes will comply with the World Health Organisation’s requirement that by 2020 we remove gender dysphoria as a medical classification, seeing as the GRA is based on that medical classification. How will the Minister’s administrative changes fulfil our international obligations to remove that classification?
Elizabeth Truss
The administrative changes will make the process considerably better. As I have said, we are also putting additional resources into transgender services. The clinical diagnosis is a matter for clinicians, and the Health and Social Care Secretary is working with them on this issue. I think there needs to be a medical element to the process, so that there are proper checks and balances in the system, but the specific diagnosis is a matter for clinicians.