UK MP Charlotte Nicholls calls for citizens to be allowed to change gender after death

Ms Nicholls called for changes to the UK’s Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA).

A lawmaker in the UK has called for a law that would allow trans people to change their legally recognized sex after death to match their gender identity.according to telegraphLabor MP Charlotte Nichols has called for the UK’s Gender Recognition Act (GRA) 2004 to be changed to allow for posthumous gender change. In written questions to parliament last month, Ms Nicholls asked whether the bill could be amended “to allow deceased trans people to be legally commemorated in the gender in which they lived”.

In response, British Equality Minister Stuart Andrew said that the government has no plans to further amend the bill. According to The Daily Telegraph, he said: “If a person used a new gender in an organization before their death and it was recorded on their personal record, then we would expect that the organization would use the new gender in the same way as their Family members interact.” .

But in an interview with the media, Ms Nicholls explained that her problem stemmed from a recent petition to amend the GRA. “The petition was prompted by the murder of my constituent Brianna Gay, whose life was cut short before she was old enough to receive formal legal recognition of who she was and how her family, friends and our community remembered her. It was cruelly shortened,” she said.

“At the time, the government said they did not see the need for any reform, but my constituents have continued to raise this issue with me and will continue to make demands on the government accordingly so that this becomes an option for people who have lost a loved one if the family so wishes. ” Ms. Nichols added.

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In February 2023, 17-year-old British trans person Brianna Ghey was stabbed to death in broad daylight. Police do not believe the incident was a hate crime, however, the offenders, Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe, committed “enjoyment” and ” Desire to Kill.” A jury convicted the pair last month after a four-week trial.

Notably, last year, nearly 14,000 campaigners asked the UK government to amend the GRA to allow for posthumous and expedited funding, The Telegraph reported. Despite being refused, a coroner earlier this year recorded a 17-year-old transgender teenager’s gender as “male” in what was said to be the first case of its kind.