Scottish Parliament votes to approve controversial gender identity law
The Scottish Parliament has passed a new gender identity law which makes it easier for people -- including 16 and 17-year-olds -- to change their gender for legal purposes
The vote was 86-39 with most of Nicola Sturgeon's Scottish National Party MPS, plus lawmakers from the Greens, Labour and Liberal Democrats, supporting the new legislation, while the Scottish Conservatives campaigned against the reform.
A number of Sturgeon's SNP politicians broke party unity and voted against the new law, the biggest rebellion against the government by its own party in the last 15 years.
Along the way the bill sparked acrimonious debate, with politicians arguing so late this week in the Edinburgh parliament that the lights in the chamber, set with an automatic timer, went out. Rival groups of protesters have also demonstrated noisily outside the building.
In practice, the new law would allow people to transition by self-declaration, removing the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. The government says it a simple step that will improve the lives of transgender people by allowing them to get official documents that correspond with their gender identity.
Opponents, including Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, claim the simplified procedure risks allowing predatory men to gain access to spaces intended for women, such as shelters for domestic abuse survivors.
Nicola Sturgeon has said that men didn't have to change their identity and pretend to be women in order to abuse them.
Debates this week became heated when spectators shouted “Shame on you” after lawmakers defeated an amendment that aimed to prevent convicted sex offenders from obtaining a gender recognition certificate.
Legislators also defeated an amendment that would
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