Gender Recognition:
A Guide for Churches to the Gender Recognition Act (UK) published by Evangelical Alliance and Parakaleo Ministry

The Gender Recognition Act came fully into force in
2005 and permits people who wish to change their legal
gender to obtain new birth certificates and be treated legally
in line with their new presenting identity. The Act effectively
confers rights on transsexual people not to be discriminated
against as a result of their changed status.

The Evangelical Alliance's previous publication,
Transsexuality, in 2000, examined the nature and validity of
claims by people to have been 'born into the wrong body'. The
present booklet gives a much briefer overview of the subject,
although it is considerably updated.

It assesses the potential impact of the Gender Recognition
Act, especially on third parties. In particular, it draws
attention to the need for churches and others to understand
the implications for religious liberty of this obscure piece of
legislation which may well come increasingly to affect, the
ways in which they operate, not least with regard to
marriage.

Don Horrocks, Head of Public Affairs
at the Evangelical Alliance, writes:

'No church or para-church group can afford to
neglect the implications of this Act and will almost
certainly need to consider amending their own
constitutions, or formal trust deeds, to take account
of it. The Alliance has worked with Parakaleo
Ministry to produce what should be the most
practical and up-to-date guidelines available.'

The booklet costs £5.00 per copy, or is available free to E.A. member organisations.