Thread by @mbmpolicy

Thread: Gender recognition in Scotland & where we are now.

1. Under existing law the Gender Recognition Act 2004 allows a person to change their legal sex. The Act has some exceptions (e.g. inheritance & sport) & therefore does not change a person’s legal sex for all purposes.

2. To change legal sex, a person must have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and provide evidence of living in their ‘acquired gender’ for 2 years. Applications are approved by a Gender Recognition Panel.

3. In December 2019 @ScotGov published a draft Bill to reform the GRA. If passed, this would allow individuals to change legal sex by making a statutory declaration (known as self-id) without medical gatekeeping or panel scrutiny.
consult.gov.scot/family-law/gen…

4. A person would be required to have lived in their acquired gender for 3 months. There is also a 3-month cooling off period. Work on the draft Bill is however currently paused. Our analysis of the draft Bill is here: mbmpolicy.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/final-…

5. Separately, in 2018 the Gender Representation on Public Boards Act (GRPB) legislated for self-id in relation to the allocation of places on public authority boards. This Act has only just come fully into force. scottishlegal.com/article/blog-s…

6. The GRPB extended the definition of woman to include transwomen with or without a GRC. A person needs to be ‘living as a woman’, but not for any minimum period. No declaration is required, nor are organisations required to verify that a person a ‘living as a woman’.

7. While the definition of woman in the GRPB is only for the purposes of the Act, it is the first partial implementation of self-id in law. It has also been cited by the Equality Network as a legal precedent, in relation to Census (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill.

8. Self-id as a principle is however, already in place in many policies across the public sector. This paper looks at the introduction of self-id policies by @scottishprisons & in the census, & how public authorities failed to consider the impact of women.
research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/1…

9. This muddled legal & policy landscape has resulted in considerable confusion as to the legality of single-sex services & protections. Neither the UK/Scottish Governments nor @EHRC have provided clear advice. For example, see:
mbmpolicy.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/impact…

lawscot.org.uk/members/journa…

10. This confusion also raises practical q's about, for example, whether (and if so, when & how) an older or disabled woman can specify a female carer. Recognising this conflict of rights & developing clear practical solutions will be key to securing resolution on this issue.