Gender recognition
We have produced an extensive body of analysis on gender recognition reform in Scotland, including a detailed, evidence-based response to the 2019 Scottish Government consultation on its draft Bill. In 2022 we submitted a written response to the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee call for views on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill and gave oral evidence in parliament.
We also met with Scottish Government officials and the relevant Minister to discuss the Bill, and raised concerns about the move to a self-declared system with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Scottish Human Rights Commission, and UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls.
Our written submissions, together with our wider body of analysis on gender self-identification laws and polices, are published on this page.
Latest updates and analysis
-
Exposing the contradiction in Scotland’s gender recognition reform project
The judgment from the Inner House of the Court of Session in the case brought by the campaign group For Women Scotland has exposed the contradiction at the heart...
2nd November 2023
-
Courting confusion: current cases involving the Scottish Government, sex and gender recognition
Next Wednesday, 4 October, the Inner House of the Court of Session will hear legal arguments about whether or not a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) changes a person’s sex...
29th September 2023
-
Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill: reflections on the first day of the judicial review of the Section 35 Order
Yesterday saw the first day of the Scottish Government’s (SG) challenge to the Section 35 Order applied by the UK Government to the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. Information...
20th September 2023
-
Scottish-UK Government contact over the GRR Bill: shedding more light on the process
…the joint work on implementation went ahead. At official level there were fortnightly meetings between UK and Scottish officials as the Bill progressed through Parliament, including early work towards...
12th September 2023
-
Who are the interveners in the judicial review of the UK Government’s use of Section 35?
The judicial review of the UK Government’s decision to invoke Section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 in respect of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill will be heard...
11th September 2023
-
GRCs, sexual harm and risk: following the logic of amendments to the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill
At Stage 3 of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill the Scottish Parliament passed amendment 40, and related consequential amendments, proposed by Gillian Martin MSP, aimed at providing safeguards...
8th September 2023
-
Clarity matters: how placating lobbyists obscures public understanding of sex and gender
This blog describes the results of polling we commissioned to test how well people understand what the terms ‘transgender woman’ and ‘trans woman’ tell them about a person’s sex....
7th August 2023