On 6 January 2020 we wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People Shirley-Anne Somerville, with a set of questions about the Scottish Government consultation on gender recognition reform and draft Bill (our original letter is shown…
Read More Scottish Government response to our questions on reforming the Gender Recognition Act
In an interview with STV broadcast on 20 February 2020, Cabinet Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville stated that she is “absolutely determined” to press ahead with reforms to the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA) to allow a person to change their legal…
Read More Is the Scottish Government seeking to build consensus on gender recognition reform?
Introduction The Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA) at present has two elements. It specifies what characteristics a person must already have to be entitled to apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) (i.e. what they must be), and separately, what…
Introduction Under section 3(3) of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA) a person applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) is required to tell the Gender Recognition Panel (GRP) about their past “treatment for the purpose of modifying sexual characteristics”…
Read More Improving the Gender Recognition Certificate process: a point of consensus?
This briefing note provided to us by Employment Solicitor Rebecca Bull examines the interaction between the Equality Act 2010 (“EqA 2010”) and the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (“GRA 2004”). The note can be accessed here: Impact of gender recognition on…
Read More Briefing Note: Impact of Gender Recognition Reform on Sex Based Rights
This briefing examines the guidance proposed by UK census authorities to accompany the sex question. We argue that the UK is currently at risk of losing meaningful data on a key demographic variable used by policy-makers and statisticians, and recommend…
Read More MBM view on proposals for the sex question in the UK 2021 census
This briefing looks at gender recognition reform in Belgium and draws lessons for Scotland. Gender recognition reform in Belgium: Lessons for Scotland The analysis is based on data published by the Belgium Institute for the Equality of Women and Men…
Read More Gender recognition reform in Belgium: lessons for Scotland
In response to a parliamentary question by Johann Lamont MSP on how acquisition of a gender recognition certificate (GRC) affects a prisoner’s legal rights in relation to accommodation, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice stated that ‘Acquiring a gender recognition certificate…
Within the last fifteen months, an intense debate has broken out over whether the sex question in the 2021 census should be framed in terms of self-declared gender identity, legal or biological sex. We think that this loss of consensus…
Background 1. In December 2019 the Scottish Government published its draft Bill on reforming the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA) and opened its plans to consultation. The draft Bill can be accessed here, the explanatory notes here, and the…
Read More Gender Recognition Act reform: The purpose of the GRA
