Brighton & Hove Council, much to the chagrin of Daily Mail readers up and down the land, this week decided to add the option of ‘Mx’ to all their forms, as a new honorific title.
It will be available as an alternative to the usual Mr, Mrs and Ms for anyone to use, but the Council had the trans community in mind when coming up with the idea.
As part of a package of measures to support trans people in the City following their recent ‘ Trans Scrutiny Review’, the Council have not only approved the use of the new suffix, but are also looking into the option of form-fillers being able to simply leave the honorific title box blank.
Councillor Phelim MacCafferty, chair cross-party Trans Equality Scrutiny Panel, said:
“Our trans community is one of the most marginalised groups in Brighton and Hove, and ignorance about the trans community suffocates meaningful discussion about their needs. I’m proud to have proposed and chaired the cross-party panel that worked on addressing this.
“There has been inadequate awareness of the lives of trans people for too long, and not enough has been done to help our trans residents access services.
“But these proposals, and ongoing engagement with the trans community will change this. We have a fantastic opportunity to do some truly groundbreaking work and go forward hand in hand with the trans community for a fairer future.”
Cllr. Denise Cobb, Conservative Group member on the Panel, said:
“I am pleased to see that there are already improvements being made for trans people as a result of this work in terms of accessing services and I hope that this will continue in the future as we begin to get a better understanding of their needs. I know that other councils have been keeping a close eye on this and so hopefully trans people in other areas of the country will also be able to benefit from this groundbreaking piece of work here in Brighton & Hove.”
To view the list of recommendations and responses as part of the Policy & Resources Committee meeting agenda, CLICK HERE: