Scotland Expected to Reform Gender Recognition Bill

Facts

• Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) began voting on Tuesday on over 150 proposed amendments to the Gender Recognition Act, though voting paused at around midnight after the Holyrood chamber's lights — which are on a timer — went out.
• Among the amendments, MSPs rejected a proposal to retain the minimum age of 18 required to transition genders. Instead, the leading Scottish National Party (SNP) approved lowering the age to 16, claiming it's in line with other existing rights for 16-year-olds like voting, marriage, and leaving home.
• Another SNP-led proposal, if passed, would allow people to transition by self-declaration, removing the pre-existing requirement of a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. They argue it simplifies transgender people's ability to acquire government documents in line with their identity.
• In response to the rejection by MPs of one of the more controversial aspects of the bill — that would have made it harder for sex offenders to apply for a gender recognition certificate (GRC) — members of the public in the gallery chanted "shame on all of you."
• The SNP previously shelved the bill's proposed changes in the face of backlash from some senior SNP politicians, along with women's groups, and individuals including Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who fear the amendments could endanger women and girls, particularly in single-sex spaces.
• The new provisions would distinguish law in Scotland from the rest of the UK, where transitioning still requires a medical diagnosis. The news also comes amid a similar vote in Spain, which could allow 16-year-olds to freely transition and those as young as 12 to do so with a judge's approval.

Sources: BBC News, Times, ABC, and Sky News.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by UN News. As transgender self-identification is already the standard for roughly 350 million people worldwide, the opposition to this bill is rooted simply in the historic demonization of the LGBTQ community. Just as lesbians and gays in the past were portrayed as potential child predators, so too are transgender people today. The opposition movement was born out of ignorance and hate — the same is true today.
• Right narrative, as provided by Telegraph. Though the hardcore proponents of this bill will paint it as such, opposing this bill is in no way transphobic. Both the Scottish public and even members of the SNP are against allowing male sex offenders from claiming they are women, but the powers that be have decided to ignore both of these groups. This will become the greatest rollback on women's rights in generations and a disgraceful stain on the reputation of parliament.