Members of Transgender Equality Network (TENI) celebrating the passage of the bill outside the Dáil on 15 July 2015.

Members of Transgender Equality Network (TENI) celebrating the passage of the bill outside the Dáil on 15 July 2015.

IN THE FIRST nine months since new legislation was introduced, 149 people have been granted permission to legally register as a different gender from that noted at their birth.

Of the 149 gender recognition certificates issued, four were granted to applicants who were aged 16 and 17 years old. Twenty-one were issued to non-Irish born residents of the State.

One hundred people subsequently requested a new birth certificate to change the record of their gender at birth. This was done through the Register of Gender Recognition maintained by the General Register Office.

A total of 18 passports were issued to people who have received the recognition certs. Three of those were to people under the age of 18.

The figures were published by the Department of Social Protection today and cover the period from 4 September 2015 to 30 June 2016.

The 2015 laws allow for a person to be formally recognised in their preferred gender. There have been no applications rejected since the commencement of the Act, and no certificates have been revoked.

According to the department, “There has been very positive feedback from clients in respect of the timely and professional manner in which applications have been dealt with since the commencement of the Act.”

The need to introduce legislation stemmed from a High Court order in March 2008 which declared that certain sections of the Civil Registration Act 2004 were incompatible with Ireland’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Today is being marked by the transgender community across the world as International Transgender Day of Remembrance. The day was set aside to remember those who have died as a result of hatred or prejudice, its organisers say.

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