The Sandyford Gender Service announced yesterday that it will stop allowing people to self-refer on to its waiting list.

Previously, it was the only gender service in Scotland (and we’re pretty sure across the whole of the UK) that allowed you to do so. We know people liked being able to self-refer: it meant that if you were worried that your GP was not going to be supportive, or might not know very much about gender identity services, that there was no potential extra barrier in place to getting yourself onto the waiting list.

The Gender Recognition Reform Bill passed its first vote last Thursday by a wide majority - but what happens next?

🧵Thread on "Stage Two" of the Scottish Parliament bill process and what to expect: A law that is proposed by the Scottish Government or by an individual MSP is called a “bill”, and bills going through Scottish Parliament progress through three stages - simply called "Stage One", "Stage Two" and "Stage Three".

The EHRC have today published new guidance on single-sex services. The guidance is overwhelmingly focused on how single-sex services might or could exclude trans people from using them. (1/16) This is really disappointing, and doesn’t reflect our experience of working with single-sex service providers for many years across Scotland – they overwhelmingly want to know how to include trans people in their services, not how to exclude us. (2/16)

Further details on the plans to reform the Gender Recognition Act can be found in the Scottish Government document "A fairer, greener Scotland" gov.scot/publications/f… (on page 50) #PFG #PfG "While the COVID 19 pandemic delayed our work to establish a more straightforward system for obtaining legal gender recognition, trans people should not have to go through a degrading, traumatic and intrusive process to be legally recognised in their gender."

In today's #PfG @NicolaSturgeon confirms "in this first year of the parliament, we will introduce the Gender Recognition Reform Bill." She said: "Presiding Officer, I understand that some have sincerely held concerns about this legislation. It is therefore worth stressing I think what it will do, but also what it will not do. It will make the existing process of gender recognition less degrading, intrusive and traumatic."

Today, the Scottish Government has published its analysis of responses to the consultation on the draft Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which ran from October 2019 – March 2020. (1/7) This consultation asked individuals and organisations to let the Scottish Government know what they thought about their specific proposals for a bill which would make the process by which trans people can change the sex recorded on our birth certificates easier. (2/7)