Scottish women face a bigger fight as gender self-ID bill passes

Scottish women suffered major blow in December when the SNP government passed a bill that will allow anyone to get a gender recognition certificate through self-declaration without a diagnosis of “gender dysphoria” or doctor’s assessment. They will need only to claim to have been “living as a different gender” for three months. Teenagers will become eligible to apply to change their legal sex on the day of their 16th birthday.

For Women Scotland was founded in June 2018 amid fear exactly this would happen, leading to an erosion of women’s rights. In this episode, I speak with director of For Women Scotland, Susan Smith, about the group’s fight for women’s sex-based rights in the country and what happens now that the Gender Recognition Reform Bill has passed.

Scottish women face a bigger fight as gender self-ID bill passes
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Meghan Murphy

Founder & Editor

Meghan Murphy is a freelance writer and journalist from Vancouver, BC. She has been podcasting and writing about feminism since 2010 and has published work in numerous national and international publications, including The Spectator, UnHerd, Quillette, the CBC, New Statesman, Vice, Al Jazeera, The Globe and Mail, and more. Meghan completed a Masters degree in the department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University in 2012 and is now exiled in Mexico with her very photogenic dog.