Earlier this week, former SNP communications director Kevin Pringle argued that the party’s MSPs should have a free vote on gender reform legislation.
At the risk of being accused of pretty staggering hypocrisy, I’d say that’s an issue where trans people’s own opinions are what we should listen to, not the musings of cis men.
All too often they are talked about rather than listened to.
And I’m aware I’m doing it again.
But I’ve done my best to listen.
And now I’d like to try to provide some balance.
So here goes.
The human rights of a vulnerable and increasingly demonised minority should not be treated as a matter of conscience.
End of.
What lies behind SNP gender reform concerns?
When there have been referendums on equal marriage, as in Australia, Ireland and Switzerland, they have passed.
And I celebrated each time.
But why should access to a basic right for a minority group be up to anyone else?
And why should transphobic myths, each echoing long-standing homophobic myths, be treated as one good faith side of a debate?
Every single concern melts into the air when the facts are looked at.
How awkward it is to acquire a gender recognition certificate has no effect on bathroom access, support given at rape crisis centres, where someone is housed in the prison estate, or any of the other tripe that circulates.
The current process is expensive, intimidating and unnecessary.
Nobody requires me to sit before a panel of strangers and justify that I’m a man.
I know that without a doubt.
Just as my trans pals know they are men, women or non-binary.
SNP MSPs knew they were standing on a gender reform manifesto
The SNP’s internal discipline is up to them, of course.
But everyone knew what their 2021 manifesto meant.
It meant the same as their 2016 manifesto, which said: “We will review and reform gender recognition law, so it’s in line with international best practice for people who are Transgender or Intersex.“
Last session they consulted twice on what gets called self-ID – regrettably, each time giving more fuel to the myth-makers.
There’s no mystery here.
Every SNP MSP knew what it meant, they stood on that manifesto, and it is beyond disingenuous to claim otherwise.
— Ash Regan MSP (@AshtenRegan) October 27, 2022
The idea that it is okay for your conscience to oppose equality measures seems perverse to me.
That’s the last place your conscience should take you.
Trans rights are human rights – and this change will come
I would understand MSPs who diverge from their leadership on tax rates or EU membership.
Have a conscience vote on the monarchy if you will.
But human rights?
Do we really want the First Minister to tell a vulnerable group, endlessly stigmatised and lied about, that their basic rights are the thing her political party is least committed to?
This change will pass Parliament.
And, as in every other country where similar measures have been adopted, there will be no negative consequences for trans people or anyone else.
Then, finally, I hope this bleak era for trans people will begin fading into history.
KEVIN PRINGLE: Sturgeon government should give MSPs a free vote on gender reform
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