Women and the Scottish Parliament: what the Gender Recognition Reform Bill taught us So first of all thank you for inviting me to speak on behalf of the three of us who make up MurrayBlackburnMackenzie. Before I do anything else,…
Read More Lucy Hunter Blackburn: Speech to Forth Valley Feminists’ Women’s Festival, 4 February 2023
The recent controversy over the placement of trans identified male prisoners in female prisons has thrown into sharp relief how, for the best part of a decade, the Scottish Prison Service and Scottish Government have side-lined the needs and interests…
Read More MBM response to the Justice Secretary statement on protecting prisoners
This blog looks at the Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) as part of developing its Gender Identity and Gender Reassignment policy. Background The SPS website lists all equality impact assessments (EQIA) they have carried…
Read More The SPS Equality Impact Assessment on its trans prisoner policy
In light of the recent Graham/Bryson case, this blog updates the position on our petition calling on the Scottish Parliament: to urge the Scottish Government to require Police Scotland, the Crown Office and the Scottish Court Service to accurately record…
Lord Falconer has already published one thread on the decision by the UK Government to issue a Section 35 order to prevent the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Act proceeding to Royal Assent. It gained substantial attention. Our analysis is here.…
The attached briefing note compares how consultations on gender recognition reform by the Scottish Government (in 2017 and 2019) and the UK government (in 2018) dealt with the interaction between the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the Equality Act 2010.…
On the afternoon of Tuesday 17 January, the UK Government published its “Statement of Reasons for making an order under s35 of the Scotland Act 1998", preventing the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from going for Royal Assent. Within hours,…
MBM introduction At Stage 3 of the Gender Recognition Reform Scotland Bill, MSPs supported an amendment proposed by SNP MSP Gillian Martin, which requires the Chief Constable to notify the Registrar General of the application for, or granting of, a…
Read More Guest blog: gender recognition, safeguarding, and the limitations of the Martin amendment
On 22 December 2022 the Scottish Parliament passed the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. The Bill amends the Gender Recognition Act 2004 for Scotland, allowing any person aged 16 years or over to change their legal sex based on a…
We have written to the Secretary of State for Scotland asking the UK government to take whatever action it believes it needs to, to ensure that protections for women and girls in Scotland provided under UK law and international human…
Read More Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: Use of Scotland Act Powers
