No self ID in Scotland!

The tide is turning.

Yes, I don't think this is 'new' news - it's to do with the announcement on June 20. It seems to have taken a while to filter through the press. There was an article in the Times at the weekend:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/feminists-celebrate-u-turn-on-self-identification-in-scotland-as-women-s-prisons-review-trans-policy-gr3vtzwj9?shareToken=09d0e056f08a97e3fd25e46a6c41b7b3

My understanding is:

• they've kicked GRA reform into the long grass by announcing a second consultation on a draft bill which will include a comprehensive updated equality impact assessment. They're proposing dropping medical evidence and cutting the time 'living as' the target gender from 2 years to 3 months, with a further 3 months cooling off after the application is approved. From the howls of outrage from some quarters I gather this means it might not get through before the next Scottish election. Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

• they're going to withdraw the LGBT Youth Scotland guidance for schools because it excludes some girls from female only spaces. They're going to publish new guidance by the Scottish Government

• they're going to set up a working group on sex and gender in data (for the census bill).

The Times also says they're reviewing the prison rules (currently self-ID in Scotland).

Here is the announcement and subsequent Q&As, including an excellent contribution from Joan McAlpine:

www.scottishparliament.tv/meeting/ministerial-statement-update-on-scottish-government-review-of-the-2004-gender-recognition-act-june-20-2019

I understand it to be that the SNP are now concerned about losing votes so are pushing it back till after next election. Surely all parties will have to confirm their policy in their manifesto so we will all be able to vote accordingly?

Joan you are amazing!

This is a great achievement but other posters on here are correct - it’s being put out for further consultation and for equality impact assessments to be carried out - which is excellent but there’s a task ahead to ensure that proper consultation goes ahead, that the right voices are heard and that no one gets to hijack proceedings or just play lip service. It’s already being painted as a gross ‘betrayal’ of the transgender community by the likes of Mahiri Black (SNP) and Patrick Harvie (Greens) who seem to object to the equality impact assessments (outrageous?!) and just want to press ahead regardless. Of course the SNP might be trying to stall any reform till after the next election so that women are on side and don’t ditch them in protest. This would cause uproar among the transgender lobbyists of course but then what’s stopping the SNP reneging on this once they’re voted in again?

But there’s no getting around the fact that a hard-fought, grassroots campaign by women has caused this suspension of reforms and has, to my huge relief, meant that the LGBT Youth Scotland advice to schools pack is being removed from schools to be replaced by future guidance from the Scottish Government.

I’ve got 2 kids in secondary in Scotland and am deeply concerned at the over-emphasis on transgender rights and some of the ‘advice’ for schools that’s been filtering through. If my kids are gay, I want them to feel proud and supported, not funnelled down a path of doubt about their sex and ‘straightened’ out via an overbearing trans narrative. And if my kids develop dysmorphia/dysphoria I want good mental health support and advice not trans flag-waving, cheerleading and instant ‘validation’. Big thanks to Joan McAlpine and Joanna Cherry too. Such a sanity saver to hear some politicians speaking up

❤️❤️❤️ Joan and all the marvellous women of Scotland who have stood up and fought for the rights of women and girls. Brava

But they will be put under huge pressure from the lobby groups they're spending so much money on.

And this needs to be looked into. Why so much funding on these groups? Who makes these decisions and are they reviewed? Does the Scottish Government think they have been getting value for money, from, for example, Engender?

This not no, this is the long grass the can's been kicked in to, and the SNP are very likely happy to make this look like 'no to self ID' in the press until the election is safely over as they've realised they may lose the election on it. The consultations and reviews all good steps, we've already proved that the consultation that was kept so quiet and supposed to confirm policy pulled up problems they couldn't ignore, and more whistleblowing is going to inevitably happen before they get this out again. But they will be put under huge pressure from the lobby groups they're spending so much money on.

Bold fail. But yes its still good news. Women have worked very hard.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine
Until I see it confirmed elsewhere this is not correct. AFAIK the government still plans to go ahead, but it's going out to consultation again and a proper EqIA done
^^
This.
.

Brilliant 😊

👍👍👍 well done Scotland- heroic women ✊

Well done Joan. My heartfelt thanks.

Now, to stop govt funding of such dangerous groups.

Even if this is not definitive it's still a very good thing. This has basically been kicked into the long grass and will be left to wither there before being "looked at" again. Raising awareness has never been more important. This got as far as it did because no one really understood what the TRA movement was demanding. Every day more and more people are understanding and speaking up. Still got to keep pushing.

👏👏👏

ItsAllGoingToBeFine I agree that we're a long way from out of the woods yet. But at least we have time to organise, the SNP are obviously in disarray over this, some of the Scottish Labour MSPs are getting vocal about their opposition (thank you Johann Lamont and Jenny Marra) and self-ID is looking increasingly unlikely this Parliament. Meanwhile we're winning hearts and minds as more people find out what's happening. We're in a better place than we could possibly have imagined this time last year.

Joan McAlpine you're a legend! Really positive news for women.

Is this article entirely accurate, though? My understanding is that the plans have been kicked down the road a bit, and better consultation will be undertaken. I'm not sure that constitutes abandoning the plans, and there were still concerning aspects to Shirley Ann Somerville's statement to the Scottish Parliament. I won't believe it's been abandoned until there's an official announcement.

A big shout-out to all the grassroots organisations in Scotland who've made this possible - including For Women Scotland, Women and Girls Scotland, and the fantastic independent researchers Susan Sinclair, Lucy Hunter Blackburn, Lisa Mackenzie, Kath Murray amongst others. Who else do we need to credit? Let's name and acclaim the brilliant Scottish women who've put themselves on the line here. Thank you sisters!!

Until I see it confirmed elsewhere this is not correct. AFAIK the government still plans to go ahead, but it's going out to consultation again and a proper EqIA done.

Glad to read that but think there needs to be serious investigation into why the scots govt were giving these organisations such vast sums of money!

That's outrageous!

I really hope this means the tide is turning.

Proud to be a scots woman with this.

Was so frustrated to have answered several questionnaires on the issue presented by the scots govt the results of which seemed to be ignored.

to Joan & all the women who have worked so hard for this. Hurrah for common sense!

Fantastic news! Does anyone know when the gvt consultation on Westminster will have its results published? wasn't t it supposed to be March, but then was pushed back (not sure till when though).