Scotland: SNP says 16-year-olds will be able to change legal gender WITHOUT 'medical' checks

Vile new laws setting up a quicker and 'less medicalised' system for trans people to change their gender - and from a younger age - have been unveiled in Scotland this week.

The SNP's Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill sets out proposals to speed up the time it takes to get a gender recognition certificate (GRC).

The legal update would also lower the age at which trans people can obtain the document from 18 to 16.

Scottish Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison outlined the plans to Holyrood this afternoon after saying many people have found the current process for obtaining a GRC 'intrusive, medicalised and bureaucratic'.

She said trans people are 'among the most stigmatised in our society' as she argued the Bill makes 'no changes' to women's rights.

But while LGBTI groups have welcomed the news, many organisations fear there could be a loss of women-only spaces - such as refuges, hospital wards, toilets and changing rooms - which could then impact on women's safety.

The Scottish Government's proposals would amend the Gender Recognition Act of 2004, which sets out the grounds and procedures for obtaining legal gender recognition.

The Bill would cut the length of time a person has to live in their acquired gender before applying from two years to three months.

They would then have to undertake a mandatory three-month 'reflection period', confirming at the end of this if they wish to proceed with their application.

Ms Robison told Holyrood she was 'well aware of real and legitimate concerns about the violence, abuse and harassment women and girls face in our society. But trans people are not responsible for that abuse, indeed they often face it themselves'.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been an avid support of trans rights, previously describing the minority as 'one of the most stigmatised in our society.' 

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