AIBU to say no to plans to allow anyone to change the sex on their birth certificate? Last day to submit your views!

[DoctorW]

Last chance to submit your views on-line about transgender law reform in Scotland. Deadline is 5pm Thursday. It's open to everyone - you don't have to be Scottish or even from the UK.

Scottish proposals include allowing anyone to change the sex on their birth certificate by filling in a form. This means male prisoners would be able to abuse the system and transfer to women's prisons. They might even allow children as young as 12 to do this without parent consent! The impact on wider society hasn't really been thought through and I explain why in this short 5 min video. Please watch and see what you think.

You don't have to fill the questionnaire in in detail - just tick the boxes if that's all you can do. 10 mins is all you need.

Filled it in but not the way you want. I don't think we should be preventing people from changing their gender because some people might abuse the system. Seems a bit cruel to do so.

I do agree that 12 is too young. It should be a decision that you make as an adult.

Thank you for the reminder! Half way through and need to finish ☺

DalekDalekDalek
I agree we shouldn't prevent people from changing gender but no one is preventing someone from changing the sex on their birth certificate.

Transgender people can already do this by supplying some medical evidence. The proposed changes are to remove the checks and balances that stop people from abusing the system.

Thanks. I filled it in. However my views are different to yours.

It's fine to have different views.

Among others, suggesting that children as young as 12 can change their sex, without parental consent, I should imagine is question most people would say no to.

And the government is looking at this consultation as a temperature check for the rest of the country.

It's fine to have different viewpoints about all sorts of things on this issue, but, as you will see from the survey, there are already a lot of assumptions being made, which simply aren't reflected by the public.

Largely because most people don't even know about it.

Everyone can have an opinion, but given people's opinions are forming the policy, now is the time to offer yours.

Be thankful that you were born with a biological sex that matches the gender that you feel you are. Some people aren’t so lucky.

Also not everyone who is trans is a criminal

Stella your comments demonstrate your complete lack of understanding of the whole issue at hand. At least read a bit before forming an opinion.

Be thankful that you were born with a biological sex that matches the gender that you feel you are. Some people aren’t so lucky.

What do you mean by gender? How would you define it, in a way that doesn’t rely on socially and culturally manufactured ideas?

Do you have a link?

DoctorW I understand what you mean, I just think it would benefit more people than it would harm.

I may be being very naive but I just can't imagine people changing their gender to abuse the system. And for what? To go into a women's prison? I just think it would be horrendous for it to be the other way around and a transgender person to be put in the wrong prison. A male to female transgender person would be in so much danger in a male prison.

I do think their proposal needs more thought though because I don't think, with issues like prisons, they have found a suitable solution whether they change it entirely or leave it as it is. It's a difficult issue with no clear cut answer and I think there needs to be a greater overhaul of the prison system really to ensure that people are better protected regardless of their gender. Men are in danger from men and women are in danger from women. Unfortunately I don't think the money is available to make the needed improvements

consult.gov.scot/family-law/review-of-the-gender-recognition-act-2004/

There you go Chocolate

Trans people should decide how they classify themselves absolutley but should the rest of society be bound to use gender definitions that aren't scientifically proven ?

And for what? To go into a women's prison?

What about going into a women's DV shelter, or gym changing room, or sharing a dorm?

There was a bloke who spent two days hiding in a sewer just so he could look up girls skirts. Do you not think filling in a form is far easier?

And it harms far more people than it benefits - women and girls are harmed. The current laws are fine for those with genuine dysphoria.

dalek do you see that the point of self-id is that changing gender would be as easy as ticking a box.

No need to change your clothes, let alone your hormones, your body or your lifestyle.

What a gift for opportunists who just want to get into women-only spaces - the same creepy guys who take up-skirt photos, put cameras into toilets, poke holes in shower cubicles, or who get off on making women and girls feel uncomfortable; all these guys would have to do is rock up and say 'I self-ID as a woman" and in they go.

Some of them might be genuinely struggling with their identity, but how could anyone tell?

Self ID is an AWFUL idea.

Trans rights are important but it all needs a bit more thought so that women's rights aren't destroyed.

Marking my place so I don't forget to do it before the deadline.

"I may be being very naive but I just can't imagine people changing their gender to abuse the system."

Anyone who shares this view might like to look at this;

17 pages of cases involving predatory men in women's spaces.

Yanbu op

I did it earlier.

I know I wouldn't want to share a hospital ward with anyone with a willy, not when at my most vulnerable in one of those blue hospital gowns that open at the back. And these proposed new laws don't seem to require anyone even to pretend to be real transgender. Have we forgotten how Jimmy Saville worked to get into women's hospital wards and homes for abused young women? It shows predatory men will go to any lengths, let's not make it easy for them. We do need checks and balances. To 'self identify' with no other requirement is naive and will throw the young and the old and the vulnerable women who need safe spaces under the bus.

I thought most hospital wards are mixed now?

I don't think we should hinder progress for the sake of potential criminals anyway.

Men who claim to be women with no changes other than their name & clothes are already allowed in female wards. Last year in our section 3 men identifying as women were given private rooms because they wouldn't stop wanking next to the other female patients. Not wanking behind the curtains but in their bed, in the middle of the room or in one case over a sleeping 58 year old. These men didn't have ant mental illness. Never in my life have I ever heard of a female patient being moved because they were touching themselves in front of others. We have also had the violent prisoner who threatens female staff with rape & assault whilst fighting to go to a female prison because he is now called Tiffany.

Surely allowing people to self ID also removes the professional support they get as part of the current process?

Perhaps we should also stop the criminal checks on teachers & adults who work with children? After all not everyone who works with children wants to sexually assault them so why tar everyone. I bet hardly anyone pretends to like kids activities just to abuse the system.

*I thought most hospital wards are mixed now?

I don't think we should hinder progress for the sake of potential criminals anyway.*

Not always - particularly mental health wards. A much higher than average proportion of the women in MH wards have been sexually abused, so it’s especially important to keep the space female.

I’m interested in what you mean by “progress”?

DalekDalekDalek
I understand what you mean, I just think it would benefit more people than it would harm.

The thing is transgender people are already allowed to change the sex on their birth certificate. No one is stopping them doing this. All society is asking that some evidence is required that they are actually transgender. The benefit they are wanting to not to have to prove it. The harm the will cause is some people abuse the system to hurt or intimidate women. In this instance the harms outweigh the benefits. This is why it should be opposed.

I think self id is harmful to genuine trans people.
I think children should be protected from unnecessary medical intervention.
I think if my dh decides to be a dw my consent should be required for the marriage to continue - and if I couldn’t consent then this should be a grounds for divorce.
I think non-binary as a “third classification” is a load of unworkable made up wank.
I think these proposals are rubbish and we should all object to them. They do nothing for trans people or women or children.

If you are unsure where this is heading, this is a three minute video. It's Portland State University in Oregon.

An evolutionary biologist says there are some biological differences between men and women.

She uses the example that, on average, men are taller than women.

As soon as she says that, a load of students walk out in protest saying that people are being brainwashed and this is fascism.

The statement that men are generally taller than women...