A group of 14 transsexuals has written to MSPs to raise concerns about proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act.
The Scottish Government is proposing changes which would allow people to legally ‘change sex’ and enter single-sex spaces without any need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria.
But the group said the proposals are “naïve” and place a misguided, “simplistic notion of inclusion” above safeguarding protections.
Devastating effects
MSPs received the letter ahead of “Being Trans in Scotland 2019” – an event giving transgender people and pro-LGBT organisations access to MSPs.
The signatories wrote: “As transsexual people we are horrified by the impact on women”.
“When women do protest they are accused of bigotry and transphobia, and dehumanised as TERFs (trans exclusionary radical feminists). We therefore understand why many women choose to remain silent despite their discomfort”.
‘Solidarity’
The individuals also said they want to stand in solidarity with women who have raised “reasonable concerns” to the Scottish Government about the proposed changes.
One women’s rights campaigner, Susan Sinclair, said that there has been “no public scrutiny” and “no proper understanding nor consideration of how these changes would impact women”.
She added that allowing men who self-identify as women access to single-sex spaces “shocked many of us, especially those with any knowledge or experience with sexual offenders”.
Welcomed
Joan McAlpine SNP welcomed the letter.
She said: “It shows not all trans people agree with the vocal and often aggressive extremists who condemn reasonable questions as ‘transphobic’.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Reforming the 2004 Gender Recognition Act remains one of the Scottish Government’s key equality priorities.”