Minister to give update on gender recognition reform

Shona Robison will address MSPs on the Scottish Government’s plan to reform the Gender Recognition Act.

Work on GRA reform was paused due to the pandemic (David Cheskin/PA) (PA Wire)

A Scottish Government minister is due to update MSPs on the Bill which would reform the Gender Recognition Act (GRA).

A statement on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill is due to be made by Shona Robison on Thursday afternoon.

The SNP-Scottish Green Government pledged to introduce the Bill in its Programme for Government last year.

The legislation will reduce the time that applicants for gender recognition need to have lived in their acquired gender and removes current medical requirements.

Work on the Bill was paused due to the pandemic, delaying it until after the May 2021 election.

Ministers say the legislation will improve the lives of trans people and ensure they do not have to go through a “degrading” process to be legally recognised in their gender.

Meghan Gallacher said the Conservatives recognise the need for reform (Fraser Bremner/Scottish Daily Mail/PA) (PA Archive)

Ahead of the statement, Scottish Conservative MSP Megan Gallacher said: “Women’s rights must be paramount in the debate over GRA reform.

“We recognise the case for improving the system and we will constructively scrutinise the Government’s proposals when they come forward.

“However, we will also be clear that any improvements to the process for trans people must not come at the expense of women’s rights or women’s safety.

“We hope the Government will listen and respect the views of women who feel very strongly that their rights may be eroded if the SNP get this legislation wrong.”

In February, a Savanta ComRes poll for the BBC found 57% of Scots support the idea of making it easier to acquire a gender recognition certificate for people who identify as transgender.

However, just 5% of people said they follow discourse on the issue “very closely”, with 31% saying they follow it “quite closely”.