‘At least as rigorous’? Does the ‘overseas track’ imply anything about the prospects for UK recognition of Scottish Gender Recognition Certificates?

The BBC recently reported that the UK Government may not recognise Gender Recognition Certificates (GRC) issued under the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, when passed. This would mean for example, that a GRC applicant in Scotland who was born in…

Passport control: checking the argument for self-declared gender recognition certificates

At Stage 2 of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill Scottish Labour MSP Michael Marra lodged two amendments that sought to align the process for obtaining a gender recognition certificate (GRC) more closely with that for passports, by requiring a…

Women, sex and the Equality Network: lifting the fig leaf

Discussion on the relationship between the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill and the Equality Act has largely focused on the law as it is. This blog looks instead at what one of Scotland’s leading trans advocacy organisations – which has…

MBM supplementary note on the Gender Recognition Reform Bill to EHRCJ Committee

Following the conclusion of the oral evidence sessions on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, we wrote to the Equality, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee to provide supplementary material we hoped would be helpful to the Committee as it…

Gender recognition reform: are women’s concerns valid?

In an interview on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland on 10 September, the First Minister stated that women’s concerns about GRA reform were “not valid” and that it “does not change in any way, shape or form any legal…

Gender recognition reform and international developments

The current reliance on 'international developments' in relation to gender recognition reform is under-researched and misplaced. The Scottish Government needs to look much more critically at the precedents legislated for in other countries and to consider how gender self-declaration laws…

Consulation on GRA reform: missing data, cost cutting, and delayed publication

The Scottish Government has now published the independent analysis of the responses to the consultation on the draft Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. In total 17,058 responses were available for analysis, the vast majority submitted by individuals (16,843), with a…