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The British government said on Monday it would block new legislation that would make it easier for people in Scotland to change their gender legally, sparking a clash with transgender rights advocates and the nationalist Scottish administration in Edinburgh.
Secretary of State for Scotland Alister Jack said he would prevent the bill from getting royal assent – the final formality that makes it law – because of concerns the conflict is at odds with “equality legislation across Britain.” The law, among other things, guarantees women and girls access to single-sex spaces such as changing rooms and shelters.
The Scottish Government will challenge the decision in the UK High Court.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called the decision by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government a “full frontal attack” on the Scottish Parliament, which approved the bill last month.
The Scottish Government “will defend the law and stand up for the Scottish Parliament,” he said on Twitter. “If this Westminster veto succeeds, it will be the first of many.”
Legislation will differentiate Scotland from England
The Scottish Bill allows people aged 16 or over in Scotland to change their gender designation on identity documents by self-declaration, removing the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria.
It also reduces the time trans people have to live in a different gender before the change is legally recognized – from two years to three months for adults and to six months for 16 and 17-year-olds.
The legislation sets Scotland apart from the rest of the UK, where a medical diagnosis is required before an individual can transition for legal purposes.
The Scottish National Party-led government in Edinburgh says the law changes will improve the lives of transgender people by allowing them to obtain official documents that match their gender identity.
Opponents claim it risks allowing predatory men access to places meant for women, such as shelters for survivors of domestic abuse. Others argue that the minimum age for transition should remain at 18.
The UK has ‘not taken this decision lightly’
Scotland is part of the United Kingdom but, like Wales and Northern Ireland, has its own semi-autonomous government with broad powers in areas including health care.
This is the first time the British government has blocked Scottish law since the Scottish government and Parliament was established a quarter of a century ago. The move will provide fodder for nationalists who want Scotland to break away from England and become an independent country.
Jack, the UK minister responsible for Scotland, said he was “not taking this decision lightly.”
“Transgender people going through the process of legally changing their gender deserve respect, support and understanding,” he said in a letter to Sturgeon. “My decision today is about the legal consequences for GB’s equality protection operation.”
Shami Chakrabarti, a Labor member of the House of Lords and a former director of the rights group Liberty, said the Sunak government may be trying to disrupt the “culture war” by entering, but legally “it may be useful.”
“It is at least indisputable that what happened in Scotland has a potential impact on the legislation as it does across the UK,” he told the BBC.
Gender identity is legal in Canada. At the federal level, individuals can request to have their gender changed in their passport through self-declaration. Regulations on changing gender markers on provincial government documents vary from province to province.
Several other countries around the world have also legalized gender recognition, including Argentina, New Zealand, Denmark and Iceland. Last month, Spain’s parliament approved a bill similar to Scotland’s.
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