Women’s organisations call on MSPs to reject proposal to reform the Gender Recognition Act

Women Speak Scotland, as part of a coalition of 14 Scottish grassroots feminist and women’s rights organisations, have called on the Scottish Parliament to reject the Scottish Government’s proposed reform of the Gender Recognition Act.

Our joint statement, sent to all 129 MSPs, sets out our principled objections to the proposed legislation in its current form.

The First Minister has offered an assurance that this new legislation will “not … remove any of the legal protections women currently have”.

We welcome this commitment to women’s sex-based rights.

However, we believe the central feature of the proposed Bill – the introduction of sex self-identification – is incompatible with retaining women’s existing rights and protections under the Equality Act.

We use the term sex self-ID rather than gender self-ID because the most significant aspect of obtaining a gender recognition certificate (GRC) is that it allows people to engage in the legal fiction that they have become a member of the opposite sex, despite the biological impossibility of such an action.

Sex self-ID contributes to widespread confusion that makes it increasingly difficult to name, identify or define women or to protect any single-sex spaces, including hospital wards, prisons, youth hostels and changing rooms, sports, awards and women-only shortlists.

We ask the Scottish Government to drop its plans to introduce sex self-ID and to ensure its commitment to women is kept by:

• Ensuring women’s voices and experiences are heard and inform any legislative change;
• Ensuring protections for women on the basis of our sex are strengthened and not weakened by any changes to legislation;
• Maintaining single-sex spaces for the dignity, privacy, physical, emotional and psychological safety of women and girls;
• Guaranteeing the human rights of women, including those to freedom of speech and assembly, are not adversely affected by legislative change.

We ask all MSPs to vote against the proposed Bill because of its hugely detrimental impact on women’s rights to safe single-sex spaces and freedom of speech.

Signatories
Frontline Feminists Scotland
Women Speak Scotland
Sole Sisters
Women Matter
Keep Prisons Single Sex
Liberal Voice for Women
Yes Women’s Pledge
Labour Women’s Declaration
Conservatives For Women
Independence for Scotland Party (ISP)
Brodie’s Trust
Audacious Women Festival
National Network of Scottish Feminists
Women’s Human Rights Campaign (Scotland)

For more information, please contact info@womenspeakscotland.com