Scotland Passes Bill Making It Easier for People to Legally Change Gender

THE GUARDIAN: MSPs vote in favour of plans to allow people to legally change their gender through system of self-identification

Plans to make it easier and less intrusive for individuals to legally change their gender through a system of self-identification, extending to 16- and 17-year-olds for the first time, will become law in Scotland.

Six years after it was proposed by the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, following two of the largest public consultations in the history of the Scottish parliament and amid an increasingly toxic and polarised political discourse, the bill was passed by MSPs on Thursday in a specially extended session.

As a mark of the escalating tensions surrounding the changes, the debate was disrupted minutes before the final vote by protesters in the public gallery shouted “shame on you” and “this is the darkest day”.

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The gender recognition reform (Scotland) bill removes the need for a psychiatric diagnosis of gender dysphoria in order to obtain a gender recognition certificate (GRC) and extend the application process to 16- and 17-year-olds for the first time. Read the whole article here » | Libby Brooks, Scotland correspondent | Thursday, December 22, 2022

Scotland passes sweeping gender recognition reform in ‘tremendous step forward for trans rights’: Trans people in Scotland will face fewer barriers to legal recognition after the Scottish Parliament voted through its Gender Recognition Reform bill. »