Writer and performer. Faizart. Outwither. Wobbly. Leither. Scots spaeker, neach-ionnsachaidh Gàidhlig. She/they. "Deep Wheel Orcadia" out now from Picador.
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Jan 18, 2023 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
so much of the s35 reasoning hinges on what *might* happen in future legal cases, because there's very little applicable case law. it's unclear to me what the test of "reasonable grounds" is, how high the bar of reasonability is for s35. this could be very consequential!
the courts could say "we think this is a reach, but it's still reasonable". that has significant constitutional consequences! this case will define *how* reasonable westminster needs to be in order to overrule holyrood. a low bar for reasonableness deeply threatens devolution.
Jan 17, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Can you send me the best legal analysis of the Section 35 reasoning document you find please?
Blogs, statements, tweets, whatever. I'm interested in what the lawyers and practiced legal commentators make of it.
Just a warning that if you follow any of this stuff you're going to end up in a transphobic rabbit hole very quickly. If you want to understand the legal case you're going to have to read their arguments, but following threads leads quickly into the vilest kind of talk.
Jan 17, 2023 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
absolutely nae chance am i watching parliament live, but if someone could message me any published statement they make with the legal case for s35 in it i'd be very grateful
Here it is. Not going to be able to look at it properly for a while though. gov.uk/government/pub…
Jan 17, 2023 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Trans liberation protest happening right now. Just off the Royal Mile. Follow the sound of bagpipes and drums.
It's very clear that the modern Tory Party is no longer unionist: it doesn't know what the union is, doesn't understand the mechanisms that have kept the union together, and doesn't care about doing anything to preserve it.
For about a decade, whenever the Tories could have done something in the long-term interests of preserving the union, they have instead acted for short-term political gain. This has kept them in power, for now, but shattered the political basis of their existence.
Jan 16, 2023 • 42 tweets • 8 min read
There is absolutely no chance of me having the focus to read a book tonight, which I'd much rather be doing, so let's do a little explainer on devolution, Section 35, and UK trans law! Mostly got an international audience in mind for this, but maybe that includes England, lol.
1. WHAT IS DEVOLUTION?
There are three devolved governments in the UK: the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive. These governments are granted power and policy over some areas of law by the UK Government. The UK also reserves some powers.
Jan 16, 2023 • 13 tweets • 2 min read
The most important thing to understand is that this is primarily an attack, not on Scotland, but on trans people. It is part of the continuing demonisation and victimisation of trans people, the immiseration of trans lives in a continuing slide towards fascism.
I've been giving it a lot of "trans people destroy the UK!" chat in an exhausted, astonished, frightened and teeth-grinding attempt to have some fun with what is, ultimately, a shitty thing that makes clear the terrible cost of even minor reform.
Jan 15, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I'd say I'm 80% sure that a Westminster attempt to block the GRA reform on the grounds that it affects the Equality Act would fail on legal grounds, based on my understanding of the law and how judges have ruled so far.
My understanding is that the argument would go:
- without a GRC trans women can be excluded for being men
- with a GRC trans women can be excluded due to exceptions from gender reassignment discrimination
- GRA reform raises the bar on the latter so affects the EA
Right?
Aug 4, 2022 • 38 tweets • 9 min read
It's time to tell you a story about the origin of the name "Fiona". A good old Scottish name, you might think. And it is, in a way, a name very representative of Scottish culture and literature. But not in the way you might think...
The first person to be named Fiona was Fiona Macleod, who published widely for a decade at the Scottish fin-de-siècle, from 1894 onwards. She was from Iona, a native Gaelic speaker, and was deeply interested in the literary milieu around the Celtic Revival and neo-paganism.
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