Nicola Sturgeon says women's views on GRA reform and women's rights are 'not valid'
First Minister doubles down on Self-ID in advance of SNP conference
Speaking to BBC Scotland ahead of the SNP’s conference, held in Glasgow this weekend, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has dismissed women’s concerns about the impact of Self-ID as “not valid”.
The SNP-Green government plans to reform the 2004 Gender Recognition Act by removing the medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria currently required to receive a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), so allowing people to legally change their sex simply by making a declaration.
The reform would also reduce the time a person has to live in their “acquired gender” from two years to six months, and lower the age at which someone can apply for a GRC from 18 to 16.
In her best ‘Chief Mammy’ mode, said:
“We shouldn’t forget there are big threats to women’s safety and rights – they come from sexism, misogyny, principally from abusive and predatory men.
"We see lawmakers in other parts of the world, Texas for example, trying to take away the rights of women to control their own bodies.
"We should focus on the real threats to women, not the threats that, while I appreciate the views are very sincerely held, in my view are not valid.”
I have news for Ms Sturgeon. Women can campaign against the big threats to women’s safety and rights across the world, while at the same time focusing on what is happening here in Scotland. It’s called feminism. As a “life long feminist” she should know that.
And just in case she has forgotten what feminism means may I respectfully suggest she reads Julie Bindel’s wake-up call to women of all ages and all political views: Feminism for Women: The Real Route to Liberation. It’s available at all good bookshops and online.
J.K. Rowling describes the book as
“Timely, necessary and important”.
I'm happily a bloke and I could claim to be living in the female "acquired gender" because I never wear a man's suit, my clothes are unisex - Primark trackkie bottoms or shorts, t-shirts, jumpers - as are my hobbies - writing, walking, gardening. "Acquired gender" is meaningless.