Kate Osborne says the UK government is “playing” with the lives of transgender people

At a committee meeting on the Scottish Gender Reform Bill, Labor MP Kate Osborne criticized the government for “playing politics with the lives of trans people”.

A on Tuesday (January 31) a one-off session of the Women and Equality Committee took place which sought to discuss the Bill and its interaction with the Equality Act.

The Scottish Gender Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament in December by 86 votes to 39 and makes it easier for trans people to get a gender recognition certificate.

The UK government, however, blocked the bill from receiving royal assent using section 35 of the Scotland Act – an unprecedented political step, which became the first of its kind in the history of devolution.

Osborne, who represents Yarrow, attended the meeting to ask some questions of the witnesses who gave evidence to the committee.

She was one of only 11 Labor MPs who voted against Section 35 on January 17 when the rest of the party abstained.

Before taking questions, Osborne criticized the government for its treatment of transgender people and compared it to the discriminatory policies of the Thatcher era.

The MP said: “I just want to say that I think a lot of people, myself included, see the government and others playing politics with trans rights and the issues surrounding it.

“I think the fear mongering and the hostile environment reminds me of when I was fighting Section 28 in the 1980s.

“I think it’s pretty aggressive and very good for where we are now.”

In one of the questions put to Kate Osborne, she asked Lord Falconer of Thoraton whether the Scottish Gender Bill would have “the practical effect of assigning one legal gender to a person in Scotland, while the same person may have a different gender in another part of the UK”. ?”

Lord Falconer replied that there would be no two systems if the UK government “takes steps to say that they will recognize a certificate whether it comes from Scotland or England”.

“Then,” continued Falconer, “you wouldn’t have two systems. Anyone with a GRC, whether on a less intensive basis in Scotland or on a more intensive basis in England, will all be treated as shown on the certificate. But this is not a legal position.

“The position at the moment is that if this bill becomes law in Scotland, these certificates in Scotland will only be recognized in Scotland.

“That would require legislation or some other act by the Scottish and UK governments [the GRCs] recognized in England.’