News and Events => Opinions & Editorials => Topic started by: Shana A on December 18, 2012, 06:56:31 PM Return to Full Version
Title: ID Accurately Reflecting One’s Gender Identity Is a Human Right
Post by: Shana A on December 18, 2012, 06:56:31 PM
Post by: Shana A on December 18, 2012, 06:56:31 PM
ID Accurately Reflecting One's Gender Identity Is a Human Right
Identity documents are needed for many activities of daily life—working, voting, traveling, accessing government institutions, and proving that one is who one claims to be. Yet for many transgender people, accessing this basic proof of identity is out of reach, pushing them further into the margins of society.
By Andrew Cray and Jack Harrison | December 18, 2012
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/report/2012/12/18/48367/id-accurately-reflecting-ones-gender-identity-is-a-human-right/ (http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/report/2012/12/18/48367/id-accurately-reflecting-ones-gender-identity-is-a-human-right/)
Endnotes and citations are available in the PDF version of this issue brief.
This past week our nation joined others around the globe in celebrating International Human Rights Day, which marked the 64th anniversary of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights, signed on December 10, 1948. This document declares that "inherent dignity" and "equal and inalienable rights" are the foundation for a just, peaceful, and free world. Decades later these principles continue to guide human rights policies established around the world, acting as a foundation for the evolving global understanding of what it means to acknowledge the equality of all people.
Transgender people, however, continue struggling to attain this innate right to dignified treatment and equality. As the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights has stated, "It is clear that many transgender persons do not fully enjoy their fundamental rights both at the level of legal guarantees and that of everyday life." One way in which transgender people have struggled is in accessing identity documents that provide legal recognition of their gender identities. The failure of governments to acknowledge the gender identities of all people represents a rejection of the fundamental rights of self-determination, dignity, and freedom.
Moving forward as a global community, it is essential that all people—transgender or not—be given access to official documents that accurately reflect each individual's gender identity and that respect the rights belonging to each of us as humans.
Identity documents are needed for many activities of daily life—working, voting, traveling, accessing government institutions, and proving that one is who one claims to be. Yet for many transgender people, accessing this basic proof of identity is out of reach, pushing them further into the margins of society.
By Andrew Cray and Jack Harrison | December 18, 2012
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/report/2012/12/18/48367/id-accurately-reflecting-ones-gender-identity-is-a-human-right/ (http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/report/2012/12/18/48367/id-accurately-reflecting-ones-gender-identity-is-a-human-right/)
Endnotes and citations are available in the PDF version of this issue brief.
This past week our nation joined others around the globe in celebrating International Human Rights Day, which marked the 64th anniversary of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights, signed on December 10, 1948. This document declares that "inherent dignity" and "equal and inalienable rights" are the foundation for a just, peaceful, and free world. Decades later these principles continue to guide human rights policies established around the world, acting as a foundation for the evolving global understanding of what it means to acknowledge the equality of all people.
Transgender people, however, continue struggling to attain this innate right to dignified treatment and equality. As the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights has stated, "It is clear that many transgender persons do not fully enjoy their fundamental rights both at the level of legal guarantees and that of everyday life." One way in which transgender people have struggled is in accessing identity documents that provide legal recognition of their gender identities. The failure of governments to acknowledge the gender identities of all people represents a rejection of the fundamental rights of self-determination, dignity, and freedom.
Moving forward as a global community, it is essential that all people—transgender or not—be given access to official documents that accurately reflect each individual's gender identity and that respect the rights belonging to each of us as humans.