Twitter, and by extension the world, is all a-buzz today with news of a new Parliamentary report surrounding full legal equality for transgender people. But what does it actually say?

WELL, the report by The Women and Equalities committee suggests a number of new measures to ensure transgender people are treated fairly and without discrimination.

At the root of the report is the idea that you shouldn’t be restricted by law from expressing your true self. Calls in the report for transgender people to legally self-define their gender rather than having legal records which state it for them would put an end to this and allow people to be recognised in the eyes of the law as the gender they feel like inside.

It’s all full of words and confusing legal stuff, but these are a few of the suggested changes that the report wants to implement to ensure transgender people are treated equally and without prejudice:

• The age when someone can legally change their gender should be lowered from 18 to 16.

• Governmental records should move towards being ‘non-gendered’ (for example adding an ‘X’ category to passports).

• People should be allowed to self-define their gender rather than requiring official governmental certifications.

• We should move away from “outdated and misleading” terms such as the words “transsexual” and “gender reassignment”, using “gender identity” instead.

• The NHS is “failing in its legal duty” by not treating gender dysphoria or enforcing zero tolerance in transphobic behaviour and should face a review in these areas.

Basically once you get past all the confusing parliamentary jargon the report’s message is simple: transgender people deserve to be treated equally to anyone else and without prejudice. PREACH.

- Henry Boon