Mary Leng (University of York – Department of Philosophy) has posted Amelioration, Inclusion, and Legal Recognition on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Katharine Jenkins (2016) identifies two target concepts of ‘woman’, a class-based concept and a gender-identity based concept, arguing that both are equally necessary for feminist aims. This paper considers the consequences of Jenkins’ position for legal proposals around recognition of gender identity. It takes as its central case study the UK legislative framework, and recent proposals to update the 2004 Gender Recognition Act to allow for self-identification (self-ID) as the basis for legal recognition of gender (including the controversial Scottish Gender Recognitional Bill as passed by the Scottish parliament in December 2022). The push to self-ID has its roots in the Yogyakarta Principles, a statement of principles relating to the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity (initially set out in 2006 and extended in 2017 with 10 additional principles (YP+10). This paper argues that, in particular, Principle 31 of YP+10, “The Right to Legal Recognition”, has been articulated in a way that makes it difficult for states to ensure legal protection for women in the class-based sense. It argues instead for a legal separation of sex and gender identity.