To mark 10 years since the Gender Recognition Act was passed in Ireland, we have dug into the depths of the GCN Archive to uncover how the magazine covered the struggle that led to the passage of the law. In this article from GCN Issue 309, Dr Lydia Foy recalled how she became one of the most impassioned and outspoken campaigners for Gender Recognition in Ireland.

In March 1993, Dr Foy first applied to the office of the Registrar General for a new birth certificate to reflect her gender. Last month, her 22-year journey through the legal system came to an end.

Recalling the road that led to Gender Recognition, Dr Foy said: “I’m glad to say we have good news at last. By 1993, I was getting very impatient and I was being treated very badly. I was on my own, but I felt I should insist on something in writing from the Registrar this time I approached the office. I did expect a negative reply, but I asked for it in writing.

“After much discussion behind the scenes and various people in the office consulted, they cautiously agreed. I suppose this marked the start of the quest for the birth certificate – of course I still don’t have it, as enactment has also to plod its way through… but it is, this time, a real process.

“With much legal and social pressure at the time, a birth certificate seemed a long way off, as I had all the other pressures to deal with.

“I thought my position was not the easiest for that task. As it happened, this was the only path open to me towards equality and remained so. I had thought a young person with some social support could do that job without the very tortuous and painful route that I was forced to take.

“Having had a very bad time with the media and law, I eventually was given leave toward judicial review. FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres) listened to my now difficult and overburdened story. This was a great, as for years I hadn’t got a listening ear or a real right of reply. There were very many court cases and eventually good support from Europe as well as home with organisations like TENI, GLEN, LGBT, ILGA, TransparenCI etc, all doing great work.

“Michael Carvill, Chief Solicitor with FLAC, in recent times, was a marvel in harnessing all these supports and keeping my morale up. There were very many people in FLAC over
the years who put a lot of time and effort into making progress. At the start, Mr Bill Shipsy had requested leave for the judicial review.

“I’m sure he was a bit incredulous at the start, but he had patience and a good listening ear. I had, as I mentioned, the luxury of a real right of reply. Now we know the present shortcomings of the Bill, like the unfortunate effects of the challenge to the Marriage Referendum and our lack of real provision for the care of children – again work in progress with the help of submissions from all those working in the area. For now. However, congratulations are due to all who worked so hard to get us this far and hopefully true equality will be the norm for all of the next generations.”

Stay tuned for more articles from 2015 as part of the #GenderRec10 campaign. To look through the GCN Archive for yourself, see the issues from 1988 to 1998 here, and more recent issues here.