Our statement in response to this evening's developments on the Stage 2 amendments to the Hate Crime and Public Order Bill relating to freedom of expression. murrayblackburnmackenzie.org/2021/02/01/deb…
We are concerned that one important decision has already been made behind closed doors – namely that for everything other than religion, there should be one generic freedom of expression provision.
This contrasts substantially in both parliamentary process and substantive content, with the tailored freedom of expression provisions in the 1986 Act, introduced after intense discussion and amendment in the Lords.
Without a substantial debate at Stage 2, all the further discussion between parties will also be in private before Stage 3.
If politicians are worried about being labelled transphobic, or even just hurtful, simply for arguing in the Parliament that it should not be criminal in itself to state that sex is immutable or other statements in the Kerr amendment...
... it is hard to see how those outside the Parliament can be confident in future that the law will have their back, if they wish to.
We have updated the blog to expand the quote from Patrick Harvie MSP, part of which we had originally missed. He has also commented: "it's not just about ensuring "no group feels targeted", it's also about ensuring that no form of bigotry is legitimised or protected."
We have been told that, although the decision has already been taken that most of the of the amendments relating to freedom of expression will not be moved (= put forward for a vote), there will still be a general debate on this issue.

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More from @mbmpolicy

2 Feb
Stage 2 proceedings on the Hate Crime and Public Order Bill are just about to begin. You can watch the livestream here: scottishparliament.tv/channel/virtua…
Freedom of expression amendments first. Calls on Liam McArthur to move amendment 103.
LM: believes passionately in freedom of expression even when challenging or offensive. But necessary limits on that. Establishing thresholds not easy or straightforward.
Read 112 tweets
31 Jan
Our Stage 2 Briefing on the Hate Crime Bill sets out the need for a tailored freedom of expression protection for transgender identity. We set out 40 examples that show how low the threshold for behaviour or communications considered abusive already is. murrayblackburnmackenzie.org/2021/01/31/hat…
Our examples include the freedom of expression amendments respectively lodged by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Liam Kerr MSP, the first of which has already been described as a ‘transphobes charter’.
We show how it can be deemed transphobic to advocate for female-only spaces & services, or collect data on biological sex - and how women have already faced lost their jobs, faced disciplinary action, been interviewed by the police & had their details recorded as a result.
Read 8 tweets
27 Jan
We consider here the various amendments which have been put down to the Hate Crime and Public Order Bill on freedom of expression relating to transgender identity.
murrayblackburnmackenzie.org/2021/01/27/pro…
The Justice Committee will start to consider potential amendments to Bill on Tuesday 2 February. The Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Humza Yousaf has put down an amendment (amendment 82) which says:
The SG originally argued that no additional protections were needed here, so the recognition of the principle that there needs to be some additional provision in the Bill is welcome. However, this is a less expansive format than existing equivalent provisions.
Read 9 tweets
26 Jan
The Justice Committee starts its Stage 2 scrutiny of the Hate Crime and Public Order Scotland Bill a week today (Tues 2 February). This is where the detailed content is formally considered and agreed, and the Bill can be amended./
@JohannLamont MSP has put down an amendment adding "sex" to Part 1 of the Bill. Part 1 provides that an offence can be treated as "aggravated by prejudice" if it is motivated "by malice or ill-will" towards certain listed groups. beta.parliament.scot/-/media/files/… Image
The Bill as drafted provides that sex might be added at some later date using secondary legislation, after the Working Group on Misogynistic Harrassment reports. The amendment switches the default assumption in the Bill to *including* sex, until any alternative is identified./
Read 8 tweets
25 Jan
In light of the news that the ONS appears to be moving away from a sex question framed in terms of self-declared gender identity in the next census, our new blog considers the implications for Scotland's census.
murrayblackburnmackenzie.org/2021/01/25/dis…
We argue that the move by the ONS potentially introduces a significant departure from the @scotgov position, which still supports framing the sex question in the Scottish census as one about self-declared gender identity, despite the new, separate question on trans status.
It is also likely to exacerbate the significant discontinuity already introduced by the decision to delay Scotland’s census to 2022, while in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the census remains on course to be held on 21 March 2021
Read 4 tweets
2 Dec 20
We are delighted that @CrimeandJustice have published this blog of ours about the development of the Scottish Prison Service's transgender prisoner policy and the failure to consider female prisoners and female prison officers: crimeandjustice.org.uk/resources/opaq…
The SPS transgender prisoner policy was one of two case studies we used in our August 2019 @ScottishAffairs article 'Losing sight of women's rights: the unregulated introduction of gender self-identification as a case study of policy capture in Scotland': research.ed.ac.uk/portal/files/1…
In 2014 the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) introduced its Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment Policy, aimed at supporting a different group of vulnerable prisoners, also with specific needs. That such a policy was required is not in doubt.
Read 22 tweets

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