Catholic bishops urge MSPs to vote against Gender Bill as LGBT+ groups unite in support

In a statement, the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland said it was “gravely concerned” about the Bill, highlighting the “system of self-identification” and the removal of the requirement of medical diagnosis. Bishops said removing this would “inevitably reduce the opportunity for crucial healthcare, support, and protection for vulnerable individuals, including children”.

The conference also said lowering the minimum age of applying for a gender recognition certificate would result in more children on the path to “irreversible elective interventions”, with bishops stating this is something “children must be protected from”.

“The freedom to hold the reasonable view that sex and gender are given and immutable and disagree with the idea of gender as fluid and separable from biological sex should be upheld, particularly for those who work in education, healthcare, the prison service, or as marriage celebrants who, from both reasonable and religious perspectives, hold an understanding of marriage as a union between one man and one woman,” they said.

However, in an open letter, Scottish LGBT groups urged MSPs to back the Bill and retain the lower age of 16 and the de-medicalisation of the process.

They said: “As an LGBT+ community we have seen the repeal of Section 28, protection from discrimination, and equal marriage as some of the key steps forward in a country that respects all who live here, no matter who they love or who they are. In this journey we have learned that we are stronger when we are united. And on this issue we are united.

“Passing the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill would be an important next step on our journey to making Scotland a place in which everyone can thrive.”

International feminist groups including CREA and the International Women’s Development Agency also wrote to MSPs urging them to back the proposals.

The letter said: “We are deeply uncomfortable with the ways in which narratives around the potential for fraudulent use of gender recognition certificates and ‘potential risk’ are, in effect, stigmatising trans people as predators.”

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