The government approach to transgender rights has caused real distress and exacerbated tensions, according to a group of crossbench MPs. The Conservative-led women’s and equalities committee has called for urgent reform to the way people can officially change gender, suggesting the government has been unwilling to engage in an area that has sometimes “become extremely toxic”. The select committee inquiry heard evidence from trans rights and women’s rights groups to consider the government’s response to a consultation on changing the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) to make it easier for trans people to legally change gender. Proposals developed under Theresa May’s government to allow people to “self-identify” by signing a statutory declaration without having to provide evidence of a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria were scrapped two years after the consultation was launched. The committee said this “unacceptable” delay had exacerbated “tensions between an already polarised group of stakeholders” and “caused real distress to many within the transgender community”. The committee said the gender recognition process could be improved to include dropping the requirement to have a gender dysphoria diagnosis, having to gain consent from a spouse and to live in the acquired gender for two years, which risks entrenching “outdated gender stereotypes”. Gaining a certificate would still require a formal statutory declaration – a safeguard that ensures “genuine intent” – and “robust guidance” is needed on how this would work in practice. Caroline Nokes, who chairs the committee, said the government “spectacularly missed its opportunity” to modernise the 17-year-old law. She called for the government to enact “meaningful change” in lieu of the response to the 2018 consultation, which “amounted to little more than administrative changes”. “This is an area of reform which has attracted strong opinions and debate, but there are areas – such as the removal of a time period for living in an acquired gender – which many can agree on. The government’s failure to implement even these changes – made clear in its consultation – suggest its lack of willingness to engage.” The report criticised the women and equalities minister, Liz Truss, the equalities minister Kemi Badenoch and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for evading “parliamentary scrutiny on this contentious subject” by refusing to give evidence to the committee. The MPs said both should urgently produce guidance, including practical examples, on how to apply single-sex exceptions under the Equality Act. The report also condemned the government for “abandoning its LGBT Action plan”, after its advisory panel suffered a series of resignations over several issues before being officially disbanded. Kim Johnson, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, who sits on the committee said she was pleased the cross-party group had been able to find “common sense consensus”. She said the report “utterly condemns the government’s role in polarising and toxifying the discourse around trans rights through its unnecessary delay in response to its own consultation”. Stonewall’s Robbie de Santos said the report “laid bare” the extent to which the UK, once a leader in trans equality, was failing communities, but welcomed recommendations to develop a healthcare strategy for trans and non-binary people within the next year. A Government Equality Hub spokesperson said the current law was effective. “We listened to those who responded to the GRA consultation and are taking steps to modernise the way that individuals can apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate as a result, including reducing the cost and moving the process online.” The EHRC said it will “publish guidance for service providers on single-sex spaces” in January and respond to the committee’s other points “in due course”.