The SNP has been dealt a crushing blow, as the party has lost its fight against Westminster over its controversial trans reforms.
The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled that the UK Government acted lawfully when it blocked the gender reforms in Scotland, which the SNP attempted to introduce earlier this year.
The proposed reforms would remove the requirement for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, allowing people to apply for a GRC as long as they have been living as the gender they identify with for three months. This is a reduction from the current minimum of three years.
A total of 11 European countries have introduced similar reforms.
The Government blocked the legislation under Section 35 of the Scotland Act, which allows a UK secretary of state to stop a bill from getting royal assent if they have reasonable grounds to believe the law would have an adverse effect on legislation reserved to Westminster.
Westminster’s decision to block the bill from going for royal assent is the first time Section 35 has been used.
At the time the legislation was first introduced, Reem Alsalem, United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, warned: “Such proposals would potentially open the door for violent males who identify as men to abuse the process of acquiring a GRC and the rights associated with it.
“This presents potential risks to the safety of women in all their diversity.
“The Scottish government … does not provide for any safeguarding measures to ensure that the procedure is not, as far as can be reasonably assured, abused by sexual predators and other perpetrators of violence.
“These include access to both single-sex spaces and gender-based spaces.”
Source: SNP dealt crushing blow as it LOSES court fight over controversial trans reforms