With a General Election due up in May of next year it seemed likely that the current UK government would follow the example of parts of the USA and try to prevent people who might disapprove of it from voting. They are starting small, on a group of people unlikely to get much sympathy from the media: trans folk.

As this Gay Star News article explains, registering to vote in the UK now involves either sending off a huge amount of paperwork, or using an online form that demands you reveal if you have ever changed your name. This is in direct contravention of the Gender Recognition Act, and is probably a violation of EU Human Rights legislation as well. I think I’m OK, in that I am already registered, so I shouldn’t be asked to go through the process again unless I move home. Other people won’t be so lucky.

I changed my name 20 years ago, and have had passports and a driving license issued in the new name. I even have a birth certificate in my new name. But apparently there is still doubt about my identity that can only be resolved by outing myself to whichever people happen to be responsible for the register of voters. Oh well, at least the form doesn’t ask for my “real name”.