UK government decides to block Scottish gender bill

• The order will be used for the first time ever to block a Scottish bill to become a law.
• MP Jack Russell has voted against the Gender Recognition Bill the Parliament.
• Ministers worry that the bill violates GB-wide equality regulations.

A contentious Scottish measure intended to make it simpler for people to alter their legally recognized gender has been blocked by the UK government.

Ministers worry that the bill violates GB-wide equality regulations.

The Section 35 order, which prevents a Scottish bill from becoming law, will be used for the first time ever.

Such a move, according to Scotland’s first minister, would be “outrageous,” and the Scottish government is likely to file a lawsuit in response.

To stop the bill from being forwarded to the King for royal approval, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack is anticipated to present an order to the Westminster parliament on Tuesday.

Mr. Jack has written the Scottish Parliament and government to let them know of the choice.

He said he was concerned the bill would “have an adverse impact on the operation of Great Britain-wide equalities legislation”.

“Transgender people who are going through the process to change their legal sex deserve our respect, support and understanding,” he said.

“I have not taken this decision lightly. The bill would have a significant impact on, amongst other things, GB-wide equalities matters in Scotland, England and Wales.”

He added: “If the Scottish government chooses to bring an amended bill back for reconsideration in the Scottish Parliament, I hope we can work together to find a constructive way forward that both respects devolution and the operation of UK Parliament legislation.”

By a vote of 86 to 39, MSPs approved the Gender Recognition Bill in December.

The purpose of the bill is to streamline and expedite the current procedure for obtaining a gender recognition certificate (GRC), which allows a person to change their gender as defined by the law.

The modifications reduce the eligibility age for GRC applications from 18 to 16.

Additionally, they eliminate the necessity for a gender dysphoria diagnosis by requiring applicants to have lived as their adopted gender for only three months rather than two years, or six months if they are 16 or older.

Trans campaigners welcomed the bill, however critics of the plans are worried that allowing anyone to “self-identify” as a woman could impact on women’s rights and access to single-sex spaces like refuges and changing rooms.

Ministers can stop a bill becoming law by using Section 35 of the Scotland Act, the legislation which created a Scottish Parliament with powers to make laws on a range of issues.

If ministers think a Holyrood bill would modify laws reserved to Westminster and have an “adverse effect” on how those laws apply, they can block it. But the power has not been used up to now.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has argued there are no grounds for the UK government to challenge the legislation as it falls within the powers of the Scottish Parliament.

She has said any move to block the reforms would be using trans people “as a political weapon”.

However, UK authorities are concerned about the consequences for UK-wide documents as well as the potential impact on the Equality Act and its protections for women-only areas.

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