LGBT campaigners are set to march on the Scottish Parliament calling for political parties to be “bolder” in the pursuit of transgender equality.
Members of the SNP, Scottish Greens, Scottish Labour and Scottish LibDem LGBT affiliates will take to the streets in Edinburgh on Monday, the first day of the Scottish Parliament resuming after the summer recess.
The groups say there has been a “huge disinformation campaign” surrounding the Gender Recognition Act, which was introduced to Holyrood during the last parliamentary term.
The legislation would make it easier for trans Scots to get a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), reduce the time they are required to live in their “acquired gender” to three months, and the responsibility for awarding the certificate would fall under the remit of the Registrar General instead of a medical panel.
However, there have been concerns amongst the trans community that little focus is being given to the provision of healthcare, which can come with lengthy waiting times.
Activists have also called for a complete trans-inclusive ban on conversion therapy and for those who identify as non-binary to be legally recognised.
At 11am on September 5th, the day the Scottish Parliament opens, we hope you’ll join the Rainbow Greens, @OutForIndy & @LGBTLabScot to #MarchForTransEquality for world leading reforms to gender recognition bill, for a full ban on conversion therapy and to fix trans healthcare. pic.twitter.com/TJC2qFKdm7
— Rainbow Greens (@rainbowgreens) August 5, 2022
Out for Independence, Rainbow Greens, LGBT+ Liberal Democrats and LGBT+ Labour Scotland organised the march which will start at 11am outside of the Edinburgh city chambers.
The activist groups released a jointly signed letter ahead of the event calling on MSPs to “finally act on a half-decade-old promise to deliver reform”.
They added: “However, these reforms do not go far enough and we are calling on all parties to be bolder.
“That's why, on September 5th, when the Scottish Parliament reopens from its summer recess, we are inviting you to march with us for trans equality.”
The groups said that the GRA bill is “crucial”, but added it is a “small administrative change”.
They continued: “It does not affect the most commonly used forms of identification, and is mostly used to ensure that marriage and death certificates are recorded with the correct gender.
“Despite the simple and reasonable nature of the reforms - already successfully enacted in other countries - this legislation has been left on pause for years, through multiple consultations and a pandemic, while trans people have been put in the media spotlight and subjected to harassment and abuse which has echoed throughout the LGBT+ community.”
They also called on MSPs to be “bolder” with reforms and encouraged them to make them “world leading”, adding: “For five years, the Scottish Parliament has promised to improve trans rights by not only making it easier to get a gender recognition certificate, but also to fix the broken state of trans healthcare that leaves trans people waiting years for treatment.”
The GRA reform bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on March 2, with a plea from minister Shona Robison for an end to the “angry, unpleasant and abusive” debate surrounding the legislation during her parliamentary speech the next day.
Robison told MSPs that the discussion around transgender rights and healthcare has become “heated” and called for a “respectful” debate on the policy.
