“The new law will make it simpler and less intrusive for trans people to access their human right to legal gender recognition” – Ian Blackford SNP

Em … I don’t think it is a human right for any person to self declare legally as the opposite sex?!

The Council of Europe Human Rights Commission has even recommended our current law the Gender Recognition Act 2004 as Good Practice.

It would be great if the SNP and Ian Blackford MP could confirm that they are stating that in their opinion, it is a human right for any person to self declare legally as the opposite sex?

The vast majority of countries require a medical diagnosis of and it has not been explained anywhere why the Scottish Government want to abolish that.

I keep asking this question about the medical diagnosis, and I’ve read everything I can find about the Gender Recognition Act reform from the Scottish Government but this has never been explained – except for some vague reference to ‘international best practice’. Whatever that means!

  • Scotland is NOT lagging behind other European Countries or ‘international best practice’.
  • There is near unanimity that a diagnosis of gender dysphoria is a requirement before legal recognition is granted.
  • Why does the Scottish Government want to scrap this requirement?

By making it ‘simpler and less intrusive’ & scrapping the need for a medical diagnosis, what this new law actually does is it changes the current legal definition of the category of ‘trans people’. It will no longer be restricted to the category of people the 2004 Act was created for.

By removing the diagnosis requirement, this will be altering the most fundamental basis of the 2004 Act, which in turn will affect the Equality Act 2010 – as that was written on the basis that the trans people who could access single sex spaces/services were those with a medical condition, ie Gender Dysphoria/Gender Identity Disorder.

But the new law is saying that anyone can self declare and be granted legal gender recognition – which basically means altering the sex marker on their birth certificate.

So please, just stop telling us the same old lines that ‘trans people have been able to access single sex spaces for years’ because whilst we all know this is true and acknowledge this is indeed has been the law, what you are doing each and every time you say this is

1/ conveniently gloss over the fact that the category of ‘trans people’ is being redefined to include anyone &

2/ effectively telling women to just stop complaining about it.

You are actively dismissing our very valid concerns and are failing to even acknowledge what the consequences of this legal change could mean for us.