From Citizen Go: “On 3 March 2022, the Scottish National Party presented the Gender Reform Bill before the Scottish Parliament, which would be a disaster if it were passed. The bill contains the following proposals:
- Anyone can change their legal sex without a diagnosis of gender dysphoria
- The age at which a person can apply for a gender recognition certificate is lowered from 18 to 16 years of age
- The two-year waiting period has been reduced to 3 months.
This bill ignores the legitimate concerns of a significant section of society, including the Equality and Human Rights Commission and far from calming down the gender debate, further heightening tensions.
Lowering the age at which a person can legally change their sex puts vulnerable young people at risk and could lead to many adolescents seeking life-changing medical interventions that they may later regret.
In their interim report, the independent Cass Review that examined the care available to children with gender dysphoria highlighted the lack of data surrounding the risk to those who may later change their minds about transitioning as well as noting that a gender affirmative approach as enshrined in this bill, endangers children with autism, mental health disorders and survivors of trauma and abuse. Gender identity can often remain in flux until the mid-twenties.
If passed, the bill will lead to the eradication of safe single-sex spaces for women and girls in schools and public facilities across the country. It will mean that any young or old man who applies for a gender recognition certificate will be able to obtain one. Girls in school will be denied the right to single-sex toilets, changing rooms or dormitories at a crucial point in their physical and personal development.
Women from cultural and religious minorities will also be effectively excluded from public life if they cannot access single-sex facilities, and so will any woman who feels uncomfortable sharing intimate spaces with male bodies. All women will be at increased risk of voyeurism, indecent exposure and potentially assault, especially women who are in prison.
A recent freedom of information request revealed that the Scottish government consulted with five government-funded transgender lobby groups and not a single feminist or religious group before the bill’s drafting.
The legislation is poorly thought out and has generated significant fear, unease and distrust.
Sign the petition urging Scottish MSPs to reject this bill and reform of the already flawed Gender Recognition Act.“