Non-binary Equality Working Group: 35 recommendations to the Scottish government

[NonnyMouse1337]

I don't know if this has been posted before. I'm not able to search properly on Mumsnet any more.
Here is the report with 35 recommendations from the Non-binary Equality Working Group to the Scottish government.

www.scottishtrans.org/non-binary-working-group-response/

I've only just started reading it.

Non-binary people do not fit easily into the categories of "man" and "woman". This means different things to different non-binary people, but overall, it means that our lives, bodies and identities need other ideas to describe them, and that our needs aren't easily categorised as men's or women's. Because so much of our society is based on the idea that there are only men and women, non-binary people face a lot of specific problems and need specific support. Solving these problems would often solve problems for many people who aren't non-binary as well.

🙄🙄🙄

As I scrolling down the thread all I could think about was surely, as nonbinary persons, they'll want their pears to be both cutted up and left whole all at the same time, GreenFrogBlueFrog?

As being non-binary is very unique to the individual some non-binary people would like to have their pears cutted up, and some whole, it costs you nothing to ask, bigot!

Of course they reserve the right to change their mind at all times (and throw the aforementioned cutted up pears at the nearest support human)!

#respecttheirchoices

@CompleteGinasaur Schrodinger's pear

I can hear my lovely, late mum's voice saying "some people have too much time".

I’ve read some articles about the problems of being nonbinary.

They were mostly about haircuts.

I’m intrigued to learn what other oppressions nonbinary people face, and what the government is supposed to do about it.

(Compelled speech and falsified documents, I presume.)

Ugh, I just read it and I now slightly regret being so flippant. That is one sinister document.

It’s mostly just proposals for a lot of bureaucratic makework. But all the time wasting bureaucracy is aimed at embedding a falsehood into the heart of government institutions and decision making, accelerating all the horrible consequences we’re already seeing with respect to erasing women’s services and making it impossible to record accurate data, forcing civil servants and healthcare providers to pay lip service to lies, and I think the worst part is the bit that seems clearly aimed at making it easier to separate “non binary children” from their non compliant parents.

If it hadn’t been for all the consequences of the ideology we’re already witnessing I think I might just roll my eyes at all the stupid timewasting bullshit. But this stuff isn’t harmless, the infiltration of this ideology into bureaucracy has much worse consequences than just wasting time and money (as if that wasn’t bad enough.)

I hope someone more articulate and clear headed than I am will go through it in more detail. I feel rather upset after reading it, there are red flags waving everywhere.

What does it mean that the working group didn't include non-binary people of colour properly?Surely you just ask for volunteers / participants?

I assume they couldn’t find any! 😁Pretty small population of POC in Scotland, and being nonbinary is primarily an affectation of the white middle classes.

Please don't ever regret the flippant, DarkDayforMN; "...they were mostly about haircuts" actually made me spit my tea..

Oh my goodness, I’ve just realised I’m non binary because I don’t have a gender identity! I’m suddenly very marginalised! Seriously though, I don’t get it. I deeply offended a non binary friend by asking if it was about presentation and fashion. She sent me some videos to watch to educate myself (I’m not misgendering by the way, she is non binary but goes by she ) . Well… all of the videos were about hair cuts and fashion! One non binary bloke said sometimes he likes to wear long cargo pants and sometimes he likes to wear short shorts so that’s why he’s gender fluid and non binary. Honestly, I really struggle to understand this stuff.

Recommendation 10
Review the use of a sex code in Community Health Index (CHI) numbers, and enable non-binary people to be recognised in medical records.
Decision
ACCEPT

For f sake as someone who is facing the prospect of laydee cancer you cannot opt out of your sex when it comes to medical matter.

oh my god 🙄Because so much of our society is based on the idea that there are only men and women, non-binary people face a lot of specific problems and need specific support.

Maybe because there are only men and women and non binary are victimising themselves over a non issue they're not trans they're just a wishy washy feeling of someone whose screaming give me attention. They don't face the same battles as trans people.

Yes - beyond haircuts and clothes, what exactly is NB? And why is the Scottish government bending over backwards for a group of people who simply don’t want their hair or clothes to look either “masculine” or “feminine “ ? 🤯

I think NB is realising you don't fit either a totally feminine or a totally masculine stereotype - but thinking this makes you unusual and explains why you've never felt you fitted in, or using it to meet your need for attention and special treatment - instead of clocking that non-binary, in a gender sense, applies to most of us.

To think this, you have to have a pretty firm sense that there is a gender binary and that people in general both do and should follow the gender stereotypes accorded to their sex - because otherwise you wouldn't be unusual at all. Or, as we've seen with haircut poet, there's a lot of pretending that everyone else adheres to an imaginary blue and pink strictly gender binary world, when they actually don't at all.

However because of the confusion over gender and sex, NB people will often say they don't feel male or female / are not a man or a woman, but that's essentially meaningless as we all have a sex, and (for example) an NB person will still need medical treatment relevant to their actual sex, and so on.

In my industry (publishing) and lots of other artsy fields, you can definitely make getting yourself a book deal / job / publicity a lot easier by joining the LBGTQ++, especially the TQ at the moment - so there's also an incentive to be NB as it means you can get this valuable status overnight and not really commit to any particular other changes. Ind I think people are doing that - with what degree of cynicism probably varies.

I know a young man who identifies as non-binary and it just doesn't make any sense. He is a ball of emotion half the time and sounds like a teenager even though he's in his midtwenties. Why are this generation so navelgazing? Why are they so speshul that they need a word to describe themselves when they aren't stereotypical? Sometimes I wonder how we got here. I just want to ask him to realise he's male and yo, that doesn't have to define everything about himself. Let's move on!

Meghan Murphy wrote a great article in Feminist Current about five years ago.

www.feministcurrent.com/2017/07/28/special-millennials-special-please-tell-im-special/

non-binary people face a lot of specific problems and need specific support.

Like what?

Just a reminder who was behind the list of demands from ATH

transcrimeuk.com/2018/08/02/jess-josh-bradley/

Josh was invited to give evidence to the Women & Equalities Committee

Every 'non binary' person I've met is a white, upper middle class, teenage girl who presents in a very stereotypically 'feminine' way and who hasn't made any sort of change apart from giving themselves a cringy name off what seems to be the approved non binary name list (i.e. a wiki page). Agree with pp that it's just a way for them to seem unique, though thankfully without resorting to drugs or surgery).

And with all the other shite going on up here, I'm always amazed that the Scot Gov aren't told to cop onto themselves and actually deal with actual, pressing issues.