Research and analysis published by MurrayBlackburnMackenzie is always top notch, but this is one of their best ones so far.
It is a long article, but I think it is really important for women across the UK to read this, especially those of us in Scotland. I will post snippets, but recommend setting aside the time to read it in its entirety. I did it in two sessions. Please don't be put off by the length - I found it fairly easy to understand.
The Equality Network / Scottish Trans organisation is more influential in Scotland compared to Stonewall.
And this affects women across the UK as well because Scotland is being used as a template for undermining the Equality Act more widely.
murrayblackburnmackenzie.org/2022/11/17/women-sex-and-the-equality-network-lifting-the-fig-leaf/
Based on the article, it might be worth emailing all 8 of your MSPs again and ask them to clearly answer the following questions.
Regarding a person who will be performing a physically intimate procedure on her, or providing any other service or sharing any space where questions of privacy, dignity or safety arise:
Should a woman ever be allowed certainty that such a person will be the same sex?
If so, should such certainty be relatively ordinary or relatively rare?
How difficult should it be to achieve such certainty; for example, should it require personal negotiation?
Should it require a woman to share personal information, possibly revealing intimate personal history?
We need more transparency from government, other lobby groups and supporters of the Bill, including those funded by the Scottish Government as women’s organisations, the SHRC, and MSPs, about what they think about women being able to manage their boundaries round the opposite sex.
As the bill is pushed through Stage 2 at speed by the Scottish Government, a timetable which has the support of Scottish Labour, it’s time to remove the fig leaf provided by throwaway descriptions of the current law and ask people to be clear about what they believe women should be entitled to.
...the questions above should also be asked of anyone who supports self-declaration for GRCs, especially if they also believe a GRC changes someone’s sex under the Equality Act. That list now clearly includes Scottish Ministers, Green MSPs, Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP (based on her comments in the Stage 1 debate) and any MSPs, in any party, who support the Bill without amending it to make it clear that GRCs issued by the Registrar General in Scotland will not change a person’s sex under that Act.
For anyone who wants to vote for the Bill only because they believe, like the Chief Executive of LGBT Youth Scotland, ‘the bill is about a piece of paper—a birth certificate. It is not about the Equality Act’, the amendment which so far comes closest to protecting the continued possibility of actual single sex jobs, services and spaces, and meaningful positive action measures for women, is Foysol Choudhury MSP’s (no. 104 here). It is due for debate on 22 November.
So to recap in terms of actions:
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If an MSP supports self-declaration for GRCs and claims that a GRC changes someone's sex under the Equality Act, ask them to clearly answer the questions above as to what actually they think women are entitled to.
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If they think the GRR Bill is purely administrative and won't affect the Equality Act, then ask them if they will commit to supporting amendment 104 by Foysol Choudhury MSP.