Transgender is defined as those who have had sex-change operations and those with both male and female sex organs.
According to the plan, there has been a 14-percent increase in "hate crimes" committed against transgender individuals. The law of the United Kingdom, the plan proposes, must be altered in order to protect this segment of the realm.
The drafters of the plan point to the lack of sufficient protections for transgender people in the laws of the European Union. Further, there are only two nations in the EU that have enacted strict laws against transgender-related crime.
In order to accomplish the goal of "transgender equality," the ministers of the Home Office recommend amending Section 146 and Schedule 21 of the UK’s Criminal Justice Act of 2003. The proposed changes would create a new protected class — transgender — categorizing any crime committed against a member of the class as a "hate crime."
With such a designation comes increased penalties. In the case of the new transgender "hate crimes" guidelines, the minimum sentence for a defendant convicted of murdering a person based on the victim’s designation as "transgender" is 30 years. This is twice the current minimum sentence.
In a statement clarifying the scope of the new sentencing structure, the Ministry of Justice explained that the new minimum sentence would also apply to those convicted of murdering the disabled based on "hatred" for such individuals.
UK Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke released a statement coinciding with the publication of the report warning that anyone who would target transgender people for a "hate crime" "should be in no doubt that they face a more severe sentence for these unacceptable crimes."
Transgender is the newest category of protected class that includes race, religion, and sexual orientation as aggravating factors to be considered in sentencing those convicted of crimes against a member of one of the guarded groups.
The harsher sentences come in response to the imprisonment of Leon Fyle who was convicted of strangling to death Destiny Lauren, a transgender prostitute in her home. Fyle was sentenced to 21 years by the trial court. Fyle was convicted in 2010 for the crime, but was not sentenced until September of this year after the original conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal.
Alterations to the criminal code are but the beginning of the nationwide mission to re-evaluate the protection of the civil rights and "special needs" of transgender Britons. The plan, called "Advancing Transgender Equality, a Plan for Action," mandates a wide ranging revamping of several aspects of English law and society that may influence the privacy of transgender people or their safety.
The Equalities Minister, Lynne Featherstone, told the Guardian that the government’s strategy is to tackle prejudice against this segment of society across the board.
One area that has stirred significant controversy across the pond is the provision in the plan proposing increased protection for transgender schoolchildren.
According to published reports, "children as young as five could be given lessons on transgender equality" under the government’s new report.
Should the UK Department of Education be forced by parliament to implement the plan’s proposed changes to the curriculum, British elementary schoolchildren will be taught about sex-change operations and the requirement that such decisions must be tolerated and accepted.
These lessons will become a part of the personal, social, and health education (PSHE) classes taught throughout the UK.
The revised curriculum is designed to reduce bullying of "gender-variant children" according to the terms of the plan.
"We know that over 70 percent of boys and girls who express gender-variant behaviours [sic] are subject to bullying in schools," the document claims. The government believes that teaching five year olds about sex change operations will reduce "transphobic bullying."
Critics worry that children that young are unequipped to process such "adult issues."
Margaret Morrissey is the founder of a parent advocacy group called Parents Outloud. She has spoken out against the planned new curriculum. "The problem is, we are overloading our children with issues that they should not have to consider at a young age," she said. "We have given them sex education and teenage pregnancies have rise year on year," she continued.
Figures suggest that the millions of pounds spent by the government to reduce teen pregnancy has had very little impact. In fact, over the past several years since the program to reduce under 18 pregnancy, there have been as many increases as decreases in the total number of minors conceiving.
Morrissey continued her examination of the ills accompanying government programs to shift influence the culture through indoctrination of children.
"We have told children about drugs education and we have a serious problem with drugs. We have told them about drinking and cigarettes and we have more children with alcohol problems and smoking," she said.
Along with the protection of and promotion of the transgender population in British schools, the governments plan of action calls for special assistance for transgender job seekers. Businesses will receive government-provided training on how to recruit and accommodate transgender employees.
The government is concerned over the data reported in a survey of the experience of transgender employees at work. According to the government’s survey, "nine out of ten transgender employees suffered discrimination or harassment at work."
The infamous National Health Service (NHS) will be converted into a more transgender-friendly environment, as well. New rules for providing "fair" treatment will be imposed on all NHS medical centers and clinics.
England and Wales are not alone, however, in their quest to normalize what is statistically an extremely marginal stratum of society.
In the United States, a bill has been introduced in both houses of Congress by Representative Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) that would mandate that all public elementary and high schools implement policies protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students from bullying or harassment.
A measure was signed into law in 2009 by President Obama including "gender identity" within the federal definition of "hate crime."
In Italy, proposed legislation increasing the mandatory sentences for "hate crimes" committed against homosexuals and transsexuals was voted down by the Chamber of Deputies.
Italy, a member of the UN Human Rights Council, will likely face reprisal for its failure to conform to the "Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity Resolution" passed in June of this year.
Upon announcing the adoption of the resolution, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay "stressed that homophobia and transphobia were no different to sexism, racism, or xenophobia."
Thanks to the signature of President Obama on the 2009 "hate crimes" statute, the United States is safe from UN censure.
And, thanks to the "Plan for Action," the government of Great Britain will soon be safe, as well, but can the same be said of its schoolchildren?
