Does the Act reduce the legal rights of trans people?
No. The Act overrall expands protection for transsexual people – the requirement to be under medical supervision has been removed; protection from indirect discrimination has been introduced; protection against direct discrimination has been extended to cover situations where a person is treated less favourably because he or she is wrongly perceived to be transsexual, or because of his or her association with a transsexual person, for example, a relative or partner. The Act also introduces a new public sector Equality Duty which covers gender reassignment in full, requiring public bodies to consider the need not only to eliminate discrimination but also to advance equality of opportunity for transsexual people. This is planned to come into force in April 2011.
