ForwomenScot have been granted permission for a Judicial Review of the Gender Representation on Public Boards Act 2018.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

This is excellent news. For those of you unaware, the Scottish Government legislated that there had to be equal number of men and women on boards. Of course, they defined women as including men, so For Women Scotland applied for, and have been granted, a judicial review. Piece about it here www.scottishlegal.com/article/blog-shifting-sands-on-the-definition-of-woman-in-scots-law

Spades out!

Shared that excellent Stephen Daisley article on twitter (not my work twitter but my anonymous twitter unfortunately) and have donated to For Women Scotland as well as Glinner's funder.

Hope this keeps going and picks up speed

Interesting tweet on For Women Scotland twitter time line. It is often said that men wouldn't abuse the ability to self Id as a woman to take away rights or privileges. which have been given to women to make up for the discrimination they face in society, well here is just that in action

www.sopitas.com/noticias/muxe-transgenero-oaxaca-candidaturas/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
It's in Spanish but it should give you the option to see it in English.
In Scotland they wouldn't even need to change their clothes or shave their beards.

I realise that these are men pretending to be trans to take positions specifically for transwomen but if they were willing to do this I am sure they would change their name on a utility bill to get a woman's place.

Sorry posted before I added above

The Mexican story was reported in the Guardian a while back:
www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/22/mexico-elections-fake-transgender-candidates-disqualified

And if a Scotsman was called Lee or Alex or Lesley, or any other unisex name, there would not even be a need to change details on a utility bill.

Wonder how it works in practice? If someone who clearly appears to be a man turns up for an interview for a position on the board, does the interviewer have to ask if he is actually a woman so they know which part of the quota to allocate him/her to.

This is an extraordinary piece of work from FWS (who I support). They are taking a government to court. Please find spades and share widely.

Not allowed to ask for any proof . They can be in s three piece suit with a beard and can't be challenged.

@334bu

I realise that these are men pretending to be trans to take positions specifically for transwomen but if they were willing to do this I am sure they would change their name on a utility bill to get a woman's place.

Sorry posted before I added above

Not quite. So this Mexican law is the same kind of law that FWS are going to court about.

It was intended to ensure that at least 50% of all candidates are female, because women are hugely underrepresented in Mexico. The lawmakers were persuaded to allow Muxes, that is males who present and/or behave in feminine ways, to take slots otherwise reserved for female candidates. There is no justification for this either, just as there is none for the Scottish law including males, but in any case it was immediately and massively abused.

Men did find other ways to undermine the law, but self-identifying as women is the easiest and most popular.

Thanks Charley.
" Men would never do that! " say the transactivists.

Well as they would say up here "Aye right!

Looks like Shirley Ann Somerville who was in charge of GRA reform might be having difficulty in getting reselected. Article in Times. Makes a change from the attempts to get rid of anyone remotely GC.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4053719-Elections-in-Scotland-next-year

I can't seem to open Times link but maybe you can

Shirley Ann Somerville. I wrote to her a year or so ago on the subject of GRA reform. I have an obviously female first name. The reply was addressed to 'Mr Arabella Scott'. (I dont use titles, will have signed with my name). Just deliberate misgendering; so utterly childish, it made a very clear mockery of the pretence of 'be kind and inclusive'.

@ArabellaScott

Shirley Ann Somerville. I wrote to her a year or so ago on the subject of GRA reform. I have an obviously female first name. The reply was addressed to 'Mr Arabella Scott'. (I dont use titles, will have signed with my name). Just deliberate misgendering; so utterly childish, it made a very clear mockery of the pretence of 'be kind and inclusive'.

I'm now wondering if there is a underling layer of wokies at SNP as others have indicated in MP's offices who are effectively cutting out all the critical voices and filtering what actually gets to politicians?

Seems highly likely.

In light of this definition of woman in the dreadful act: "always using female pronouns; using a female name on official documents such as a driving licence or passport, or on utility bills or bank accounts", it's rather fascinating that Mridul Wadhwa - the legally male manager of a rape crisis centre who has now taken a spot on a all woman shortlist - has a name that, in India, is a boy's name.

I know wings are not everyone's cup of tea, but this is a zinger of an article on MW and shows the direction of travel in the SNP wingsoverscotland.com/waiting-for-the-men/

I wonder if the SNP will draw up an approved list of "female" names. Does the former FM's name, Alex, count, I wonder...?

Whoops

By the definition, I guess I am not woman as my Sainsbury's account is mr midge

Bump!

The case has been written up in Scottish Legal News.

And the Crowd Justice fundraiser could do with a bit of a bumping too for anyone on Twitter.

This is so important!

It looks like this could set precedent in E&W as well as Scotland, so EqA couldn't be undermined by stealth in other legislation.

Keep bumping that crowdfunder!

Wasn't Jennifer James taking legal action on AWSL? Or was that for something else? Did that ever come to anything?

@BetsyM00

The case has been written up in Scottish Legal News.

And the Crowd Justice fundraiser could do with a bit of a bumping too for anyone on Twitter.

Great article. Makes the policy capture very clear.

During stage two of the legislative process, following representations from Scottish Trans Alliance, the definition of “woman” in the bill was altered to include people who have not changed their legal sex to ‘female’ using a gender recognition certificate (GRC) and to exclude some people who remain female in law – those transitioning to live as men, but who do not have a GRC.

"It is vital, not only for Scotland but for the wider UK, that equality law cannot be ignored or set aside in this manner.”

Wasn't Jennifer James taking legal action on AWSL? Or was that for something else? Did that ever come to anything?

Still ongoing, latest update I had from her.

I wish it would get a wriggle on now that a transwomen is standing as a candidate in an AWS.