Scotland’s messy Gender Recognition Act is a symptom of Holyrood’s weaknesses
Spectator (UK)Nov 26, 2022
The Facts
Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) began voting on Tuesday on over 150 proposed amendments to the Gender Recognition Act, though voting paused at around midnight after the Holyrood chamber's lights — which are on a timer — went out.
Among the amendments, MSPs rejected a proposal to retain the minimum age of 18 required to transition genders. Instead, the leading Scottish National Party (SNP) approved lowering the age to 16, claiming it's in line with other existing rights for 16-year-olds like voting, marriage, and leaving home.
The Spin
Left narrative
As transgender self-identification is already the standard for roughly 350 million people worldwide, the opposition to this bill is rooted simply in the historic demonization of the LGBTQ community. Just as lesbians and gays in the past were portrayed as potential child predators, so too are transgender people today. The opposition movement was born out of ignorance and hate — the same is true today.
Right narrative
Though the hardcore proponents of this bill will paint it as such, opposing this bill is in no way transphobic. Both the Scottish public and even members of the SNP are against allowing male sex offenders from claiming they are women, but the powers that be have decided to ignore both of these groups. This will become the greatest rollback on women's rights in generations and a disgraceful stain on the reputation of parliament.
