Youth Council welcomes Senator VanTurnhout’s proposed amendment to Gender Recognition Bill

Interim Gender Recognition Certificate for young people a positive step

The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) has today (16.06.15) announced its support for Senator Jillian van Turnhout’s proposed amendment to the Gender Recognition Bill. The Bill is reaching the final stages of the legislative process and according to the Youth Council, despite the significant and positive changes to the Bill for adults proposed by Government, children remain excluded from the provisions from the Bill.

The NYCI is the representative body for youth organisations whose 1,400 staff and 40,000 volunteers work with over 380,000 young people nationwide.

Mary Cunningham, NYCI Director said: “NYCI believes that all of our legislation should be guided by what is in the best interest of young people. We support the proposed Interim Gender Recognition Certificate for children, which would allow the rights and best interests of trans children to be promoted and protected. This proposed certificate would allow young people to live their young lives in the gender of their identity, which is what they deserve.

“NYCI also supports the ongoing work of our member organisation, BeLonGTo, which works with and campaigns for trans young people and is also calling for this amendment to be included in this important legislation,” concluded Ms Cunningham.

ENDS

Daniel Meister, Communications Manager at NYCI on 087 781 4903, 01-478 4122 or e-mail communications@nyci.ie

National Youth Council of Ireland

NYCI is a membership-led umbrella organisation that represents and supports the interests of voluntary youth organisations and uses its collective experience to act on issues that impact on young people.