(London) The British government decided on Monday to block a Scottish law facilitating the recognition of gender change, auguring a legal battle between London and the independence government in Edinburgh.
UK Government Minister for Scotland Alister Jack said the law, passed by the Scottish Parliament on December 22, would have an “opposing impact on the working of equality legislation” across Great Britain. Brittany.
“My ruling today is about the impact of the legislation on the operation of equality protections,” he said.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon denounced on Twitter a “frontal attack on our democratically elected Scottish Parliament and its ability to make its own decisions”.
The Scottish government “will defend this law” and “the Scottish Parliament”, she added, denouncing this “Westminster veto”.
The text introduced by the independence government removes the requirement for a medical and psychiatric diagnosis when applying for a gender recognition certificate.
It reduces the period an applicant must live in their acquired gender from two years to three months, with an additional three-month reflection period, and raises to 16 (from 18 previously) the minimum age for applying for this certificate.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government thus becomes the first to use this blocking mechanism, risking triggering a legal and political showdown, shortly after the Scottish government was recently denied the right by the Supreme Court to organize a new independence referendum.