Political Impact
Coronation Street's handling of transsexual issues, the uncertainty of whether her partner would accept her transsexuality and the inability of transsexual people to adopt children or marry, has been praised by transgendered groups. An Early Day Motion was also tabled in Parliament by Lynne Jones, MP, praising the story team and researchers, and Julie Hesmondhalgh for her portrayal."
Following the screening of the "wedding" in 1999, the Labour Government announced that a Parliamentary Working Group was being created to assess how the United Kingdom could grant trans people the legal rights for which they had fought for decades. The result of this was the tabling, in 2004, of the Gender Recognition Act, granting trans people full legal status in their acquired sex. It has been said that the character of Hayley Cropper deserves partial credit for bringing the issues faced by trans people to public attention in a sympathetic manner, rather than the sensationalist coverage that had previously existed. It is also alleged that the resultant public support for this fictional character went in favour of the Bill.
Read more about this topic: Hayley Cropper
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