Gender recognition certificate

In some countries, a gender recognition certificate is a vital record to indicate a legal change of gender identity. This is distinct from a birth certificate, which is often amended in various countries following a legal gender change.

By country

Australia

Main article: Recognised details certificate

India

See also: Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 and Transgender rights in India

Under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, a transgender person can apply to the district magistrate for a transgender person certificate which will give them the right to change the name on their birth certificate and have all documents updated accordingly.^[1] However, similar to the 2018 bill provisions, a transgender person can be identified as male or female only after applying for a revised certificate to the district magistrate, post sex reassignment surgery.^[2]

Ireland

Under the Gender Recognition Act 2015, Irish citizens are allowed to apply for a gender recognition certificate to change their gender on government documents through self-determination. The law does not require any medical intervention by the applicant nor an assessment by medical professionals.^[3]

United Kingdom

See also: Gender Recognition Act 2004, Transgender rights in the United Kingdom, and Gender Recognition Panel

In the United Kingdom, citizens who seek to change their legal gender must appear before the Gender Recognition Panel, a national tribunal which issues a gender recognition certificate to applicants. People granted a full GRC are from the date of issue, considered in the eyes of the law to be of their "acquired gender" in most situations.

However, on 15 April 2025 the UK Supreme Court ruled^[4] that in the Equality Act, the word "woman" refers only to biological sex, that is, the sex shown on a birth certificate. The court noted that the law gives separate protection against discrimination to transgender people; there is no restriction on a person living as they wish; and it specifically explained that it was not defining what a woman was: merely what that word meant in the context of that Act.