‘Woman’ redefined?

[Lordfrontpaw]

I’ve seen bits of info on twitter and can’t quite get me head around what has happened.

Does anyone know what/when/if this is true?

The new guidance can be found here It says that the definition of a woman includes trans women, and that trans women should be living as a woman (e.g. by using female pronouns etc) but such a person will not be required to undergo any specific treatment, and will not be required to provide any evidence that they are living as a woman. I’m not a lawyer, so can’t say what the reach of this is, but I would imagine that even if this definition is limited to putting women on boards as intended, it will set a precedent that can then be used to define woman in other scenarios. It looks to me like the sex based protection in the equality act has been overridden (if that is even legal, perhaps a lawyer can advise) and is certainly a step in the wrong direction. I do actually believe that the SNP believe themselves to be ‘progressive’ with this type of legislation, but unfortunately, as is so often the case these days, this doesn’t seem to be particularly well thought through and there are obvious loop holes that would allow predatory males into female spaces (if this precedent is applied across society).

Interestingly, when I searched for this on Twitter, the first result was from a rival Scottish independence group who were clear to distance themselves from it state that they defined woman as ‘adult human female’.

I’m redirecting this thread to another one that is going: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3929533-Scottish-Government-redefines-woman-in-law

Agree with directing to the link above for more information. this is a truly terrifying state of affairs if you are a woman in Scotland. Because now you belong to a wider grouping which includes men.

Now, now. 'The people of Scotland' support Nicola and the laws they bring in, haven't you been listening to anything Nicola has said on this or anything else. The people of Scotland support it.
Sorry for the sarcasm but this pees me off.

There are a strong cohort against this law Joan MacAlpine and Joanna Cherry are two. I wrote to anyone I could against it. It's a bit late to do anything now but you could write anyway.

So all the consultation we took part in, it was on MN at the time, did that amount to sweet FA? Quelle surprise.

Without wanting to rehash the debate, who exactly is driving this change and for what benefit?

As anyone could comment on the online consultation I would assume many pro trans people from anywhere in the world would make sure their views were there.
Whereas no one apart from me that I know of posted on it.

Thank you for linking to the thread in women's rights.

This is the daftest and most dangerous bit of legislation I've come across. I will be writing to my MSPs.

Awful.