‘History made’ after hundreds of trans people protest against Section 35 order

Hundreds took part in last-minute protests up and down Britain today over the UK government’s move to block Scotland’s gender recognition reforms.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Monday his government will use a decades-old statute called Section 35 to veto the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.

The proposals would have simplified the process by which a trans person can legally change their gender.

Amid chants of ‘f**k the Tories’ and homemade signs saying ‘trans power’, the Rally for Trans Equality took place this morning in Glasgow.

Spilling out from the Royal Concert Hall steps onto Buchanan Street from 11am, LGBTQ+ people and their allies were even joined by lawmakers.

Minister and Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie were among the speakers at the rally, alongside SNP MSPs Kaukab Stewart and Kirsten Oswald marching.

Rally organisers told Metro.co.uk that they estimate hundreds ‘if not over a thousand’ people locked arms for the demonstration in Glasgow.

Scotland’s bill would have lowered the age – from 18 to 16 – at which people can apply for a gender recognition certificate (GRC) to legally change their gender.

The intrusive, lengthy and costly need to obtain a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria would also have been scrapped.

Applicants above the age of 18 would be recognised as their ‘acquired’ gender, as the proposals put it, after three months living in it rather than two years; 16- and 17-year-olds would need to wait six months.

Beth Douglas, a trans woman and co-convenor of the LGBTQ+ wing of the Scottish Greens, the Rainbow Greens, was among those protesting in Glasgow.

She told Metro.co.uk: ‘We are truly seeing history being made. The protest in Glasgow was electric with hundreds, if not over a thousand people in attendance.

‘All around the country more demos are happening and more people are taking a stand against this Government’s attacks on trans people and democracy.’

Elaine Scattermoon, 35, a trans software developer, added: ‘The main thing for me was showing the solidarity and the level of support this has, as well as the strength of feeling.

‘There were hundreds of us making our presence and voices felt, and this was just some of Glasgow on a freezing January morning.

‘Trans people cannot and will not be silenced, and we refuse to be used as a football in political culture wars.’

Joelle Tungus, 25, a bus cleaner who moved to Scotland three years ago, had an idea why the turnout was so high.

‘I think people were fed up. The GRA affects our lives so little and it’s been a six-year battle,’ she said.

‘We all breathed a collective sigh of relief when it was finally passed – after a final round of Tory obstructionism – and then Section 35 came in.

‘We’ve been messed around so much so to get this close to finally being done with the bill and have it pulled away at the last moment was just that final step over the line.

‘I just want to be done with GRA reform and move on to issues that are actually harming trans people.’

Protesters also made their voices heard in London just outside Downing Street as well as Leeds in West Yorkshire and Dundee on the east coast of Scotland.

UK ministers have argued that they needed to intervene as Scotland’s proposals would turn the UK into a patchwork of different gender recognition programmes.

Alister Jack, the UK government’s secretary of state for Scotland, has insisted he had ‘not taken this decision lightly’ to invoke Section 35.

‘After thorough and careful considerations of all the relative advice and the policy implications, I am concerned that this legislation would have an adverse impact on the operation of Great Britain-wide equalities legislation,’ he said Monday.

As it stands, not many trans people have ever sought a gender recognition certificate (GRC) – a document that lets them change the gender marker on their birth certificate – in the UK.

In Scotland, only about 30 trans people a year apply, per Holyrood estimates. UK-wide, the figure stands at a few hundred, according to UK government data.

Trans people can already change their gender markers on other document types such as passports and driving licences without a GRC.

Scotland’s gender recognition reforms were less about giving trans people new rights but rather making it easier to access pre-existing ones, activists say.

Until this day comes, Tungus says she’s glad about what the turnout for today’s protest in Glasgow has shown the UK

‘People have always treated me so nice in Glasgow since I’ve come out as trans,’ she says.

‘I’m just glad everyone else gets to see the pro-trans Glasgow I see every day.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.