CARE for Scotland asks MSPs to vote down gender recognition reform plans

CARE for Scotland has asked MSPs to oppose controversial gender recognition proposals at a debate in the Scottish Parliament, warning they risk undermining the safety of children and chilling free speech.

Tomorrow afternoon (Thu 27 Oct) parliamentarians will debate the general principles of the Scottish Government’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. MSPs will then vote on progressing the plans.

CARE for Scotland has written to politicians to highlight concerns. A briefing for MSPs by the charity, which is supported by Christian believers across Scotland, urges MSPs to vote down the Bill.

Michael Veitch, Scottish Parliamentary Officer, comments:

“We do not accept the narrative of proponents that this Bill is essentially a tidying-up exercise aimed at reducing the bureaucracy of acquiring a Gender Recognition Certificate. On the contrary, by removing medical requirements, and reducing the statutory time limit to a nominal three-month period, the Bill introduces a de-facto system of ‘self-identification’.

“If passed, the Bill would send a very clear message to children and young people that their biological sex is not a fixed reality but entirely a matter of personal choice. ‘Self-identification’ could encourage them to make potentially life-altering changes to their bodies. We also have concerns about the bill’s impact on sex-based rights and conventions, and freedom of expression.”

CARE for Scotland sets out several reasons why MSPs should oppose the proposals at Stage 1, including maintaining the integrity of sex-based laws and conventions, public opposition, child safeguarding, and a potential chill on free expression:

Sex-based laws/conventions

“CARE for Scotland is extremely concerned about this Bill. Our starting position, drawn both from science and Biblical teaching, is that there is a fixed and objectively measurable difference between male and female in the overwhelming majority of cases – an exception being the extremely small number of individuals who are born intersex. The removal of the requirement for a medical diagnosis in effect introduces a system of self-identification where the legal status of being recognised as a man or woman becomes a matter of personal choice.

“Quite apart from the troubling, and arguably unresolvable, practical implications of this proposal in areas such as single sex spaces or activities, it seems to us to be deeply unwise for society to proceed with legislation that overrides the biological realities of male and female. For similar reasons, we oppose reducing the statutory declaration to three months. To do so reinforces an objectively false narrative that to be ‘male’ or ‘female’ are entirely matters of personal choice.”

Public opposition

“Analysis of 10,800 individual responses to the Equality, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee’s own ‘short survey’ on the Bill showed that a substantial majority of people are opposed to the Bill: 59% disagreed with the overall purpose of the Bill – only 38% agreed. When invited to provide further comments about the provisions of the Bill, 1,687 were in favour and 4,768 were against”.

Child safeguarding

“If passed, the Bill would send a very clear message to children and young people that their biological sex is not a fixed reality but a matter of personal choice. ‘Self-identification’ would, by definition, encourage them to make potentially life altering changes to their bodies.”

Free expression

“By insisting that anyone, regardless of whether nor not they have received a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, is to be legally recognised as being the sex of their choice, risks ‘gas-lighting’ those who refuse to affirm what they can see to be objectively false.

“CARE for Scotland supports measures to protect all groups from persecution and ensure compassion and respect are afforded trans people but hold that this is separate from (and should not be linked to) the proposals set out in this Bill that have far reaching consequences.”

ENDS

CARE for Scotland provides analysis of social policy from a Christian perspective. For more information or to request an interview, contact Jamie Gillies | jamie.gillies@care.org.uk