We welcome the long-overdue reforms to the Gender Recognition Act. This legislation will improve the lives of trans people and finally act on a half-decade-old promise to deliver reform. However, these reforms do not go far enough and we are calling on all parties to be bolder.
That’s why, on September 5th, when the Scottish Parliament reopens from its summer recess, we are inviting you to march with us for trans equality.
MSPs have been faced with a huge disinformation campaign about the reality of Gender Recognition Reforms. The Gender Recognition Reform Scotland Bill, while crucial, is a small administrative change. It does not affect the most commonly used forms of identification, and is mostly used to ensure that marriage and death certificates are recorded with the correct gender.
Despite the simple and reasonable nature of the reforms – already successfully enacted in other countries – this legislation has been left on pause for years, through multiple consultations and a pandemic, while trans people have been put in the media spotlight and subjected to harassment and abuse which has echoed throughout the LGBT+ community. While the bill is a step in the right direction MSPs can be bolder and make the reforms world leading.
Gender Recognition Reform is only a step on the road to trans equality. For five years, the Scottish Parliament has promised to improve trans rights by not only making it easier to get a gender recognition certificate, but also to fix the broken state of trans healthcare that leaves trans people waiting years for treatment.
That’s why we, the LGBT+ representative groups from the Scottish National Party, the Scottish Greens and Scottish Labour are working together to invite you to join us in marching for trans equality on the day the Scottish Parliament comes back from its summer recess, in support of the Gender Recognition Reform Scotland Bill and to call for action on access to trans healthcare, a full trans-inclusive ban on conversion therapy, and recognition of non-binary identities.
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