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Will Sunak blocking Scottish trans rights bill lead to end of the UK? [1]
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Date: 2023-01
“Before this situation, I was concerned that a lot of people who pushed for independence as their main priority had largely turned a blind eye to a lot of the problems within Scotland, and viewed independence as a panacea,” said Esme Houston, an Aberdeen-based queer activist.
But with the UK government acting to block Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Act, which would make it easier for trans people to correct the gender on their birth certificates and other official paperwork, she feels differently.
“Now, I understand that independence is the only way to achieve [progressive] goals in the face of a highly conservative UK government,” she explained.
Like all of the LGBTIQ activists openDemocracy has spoken to in the past 24 hours, Houston is particularly frustrated by UK Labour. The party failed to oppose Rishi Sunak’s decision to block the legislation, despite Scottish Labour backing the bill in Holyrood.
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She said: “If Keir Starmer is also in favour of blocking the bill in the UK Parliament, that’s even more concerning – the Tories and Labour are the only parties capable of governing given the UK’s outdated first-past-the-post system.
“They are undermining Scottish and trans people’s autonomy – the only way to get what we need is to sever ourselves entirely from the UK.”
Speaking yesterday, Starmer said he had “concerns” about the Scottish legislation, particularly about its lowering of the age at which a person can change their legal gender to 16.
Celebrity ceramicist, AJ Simpson, 23, who won Channel 4’s ‘The Great Pottery Throwdown’ in 2022, first heard the news on the radio when they were heading to the studio.
“It really upset me for the whole rest of the day, the next few days,” AJ, who is non-binary, told openDemocracy. “Nicola Sturgeon described it as very dehumanising, I think that’s right. It’s not very nice.”
AJ added that they are “proud of the Scottish government’s support of the bill”, which they say “will make such a positive difference in people’s lives”.
The new law would bypass the often lengthy waiting lists for medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, which is currently required before paperwork can be updated.
AJ said: “I was lucky enough that I could afford to pay for a private diagnosis, but it’s three years on the NHS to get diagnosed with gender dysphoria.” Waiting,” they added, “can have such a horrible impact on people’s mental health.”
They said they “didn’t really have strong feelings either way” about independence before this – they were too young to vote in 2014. But, they added, “it’s things like that that make me lean more towards the side of independence – decisions that will improve people’s lives and make the world a better place are then seemingly blocked for no reason, or reasons that aren’t very well founded.”
AJ added: “I just think that for trans and non-binary people, things are hard enough as it is to figure out who you are. There’s a lot of self-reflection and a lot of really tough days, it doesn’t need to be any harder.
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[1] Url:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/scotland-trans-rights-gender-recognition-reform-future-of-uk-rishi-sunak-keir-starmer/
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