Ministers in the United Kingdom are considering closing what they call a “major loophole” on the country’s national passport where citizens can alter their gender identification.
In the UK, citizens are permitted to get a new passport if they change their name, gender, or their appearance if, for example, they have had plastic surgery.
For a driver’s license, all that is required for applicants to change the sex recorded on the document is a brief legal declaration verifying their new identification.
Concerned persons say the loophole creates “self-ID by the back door” and leads to a danger that single-sex spaces for women and girls could be compromised because passports and driver’s licenses are commonly used for identification in normal life.
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According to a report by The Telegraph, Kemi Badenoch, equalities minister, wants to close the loophole but needs the support of other departments.
The report said Badenoch raised the issue with Suella Braverman when she was Home Secretary, and followed it up with a letter to James Cleverly, her successor.
“This is a major loophole that is made more problematic by the fact that passports and driving licences are frequently used as the evidence when applying for a gender recognition certificate,” The Telegraph quoted a government source as saying.
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Between 2018 and 2022, the Passport Office approved more than 3,000 requests for people to change their “sex marker,” the report added, citing freedom of information data.
The development comes as debates in the UK about transgender rights and possible reforms to the current passport system continue to heat up.
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