ELIZABETH BELLINGER

Early day motion 1664, tabled 20 October 1998 by Lynne Jones (Labour). Signed by 41 members.

That this House applauds the courage of Mrs Elizabeth Bellinger, who, 17 years after being awarded custody of her step-daughter by a court fully aware of her medical history, has decided to tell her story; notes that, technically, both her marriage and the adoption of her daughter are legally invalid because she is transsexual; believes that the love and care she has given to and received from her husband and daughter are not less as a result of her condition; recognises the huge risks she has decided to take, in terms of family relations and personal privacy, to publicise the plight of those, who, like she, are denied many basic civil rights because they are transsexual; and calls on the Government to bring in reforms to guarantee civil recognition of an individual's corrected sex.

Signatures by party: Labour 30, Liberal Democrat 8, Conservative 1, Plaid Cymru 1, Scottish National Party 1.