I thought I would do a little thread just on some really basic points about the proposed reforms to the GRA that seem to have escaped quite a lot of ostensibly clever people - there's quite a lot of confusing stuff out there, so here are some basics. Do share.
All this furore around self-identification in the context of the GRA (Gender Reform Act) appears in many quarters to be predicated on a number of false premises, and I wanted to just highlight a few that seem to be particularly prevalent.
I was recently directed towards a really useful piece recently released by the @OxHRH based at the Faculty of Law at Oxford University which I think is quite a useful read. You should just read it all, but here are a few highlights. ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/gender-recogni…
❌ NOT TRUE: The GRA is a piece of legislation central to the lives of all trans people and pertains to all areas of their lives.
✅ TRUE: The proposed change to the GRA pertains EXCLUSIVELY to the process around the process of being issued with a Gender Recognition Certificate, which many trans people don't have. 
Many trans people don't go through the process for acquiring a GRC - here's @shonfaye talking a bit about why this often is.
❌ NOT TRUE: The reforms to the GRA are going to give trans people lots of new rights, protections and access to goods and services that they didn't have before.
✅ TRUE: "According to Equality Act 2010 Section 7, there already exists a general right for trans women – irrespective of medical status or whether they have a GR Certificate – to access appropriate goods and services (such as single-gender hospital wards, etc.)."
❌ NOT TRUE: Women-only spaces are going to come under new threat from reforms to the GRA, with anyone self-determining as a woman having guaranteed access to spaces they couldn't access before.
✅ TRUE ⏬ "self-declaring one’s preferred legal gender would still (where the high bar of a “legitimate reason” is satisfied) allow exemptions for the right to access gender-specific spaces (guaranteed by the 2010 Act) to continue."
On reflection, there is one bit of misinformation in this thread - my bleary-eyed morning self wrote “Gender Reform Act” when I meant “Gender Recognition Act” >_<
