(Edinburgh) A Scottish minister resigned from the independence government on Thursday, opposing a controversial bill that aims to facilitate the transition of transgender people.
Posted at 1:14 p.m.
The bill, which passed the first stage of the legislative journey in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday, 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. The certificate could therefore be obtained after six months, according to this text.
The minimum age to apply for this certificate is reduced from 18 to 16 years old.
Community Safety Minister Ash Regan announced her resignation on Thursday. She explained to Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon that her “conscience” did not allow her to vote for this government text.
The text was voted on by a majority of MPs on Thursday, supported by elected officials from the Scottish National Party of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, as well as by Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens.
“Legal gender recognition has been around for 18 years, but many people find the current system for obtaining a gender recognition certificate to be intrusive, medicalized and bureaucratic,” Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said in a statement. ahead of the vote.
“The bill aims to simplify and improve the process for a transgender person to obtain legal recognition, thereby giving them better access to their rights,” she added.
“Our support for trans rights is not at odds with our strong and ongoing commitment to defending the rights and protections enjoyed by women and girls,” said Shona Robinson.
She was thus trying to respond to the concerns of certain women’s associations.
The subject of trans identity is particularly sensitive in the United Kingdom and regularly brings its share of controversy.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who lives in Scotland, has become one of the most vocal critics of trans activism. She sees it as an attack on women’s rights, which has earned her accusations of transphobia and, according to her, death threats.
Taking aim at the Scottish bill, in October she tweeted a picture of herself wearing a t-shirt that read “Nicola Sturgeon, destroyer of women’s rights”.