Mark Jenkinson MP has written to the Minister for Women and Equalities, urging her to block the Scottish Gender Reform Bill.
This Bill raises huge public interest concerns, particularly around safety issues for women and children.
Read the letter below:
Dear Kemi,
I am writing to urge you to do everything in your power to block the Scottish Gender Reform Bill.
I share the concerns of the UK Government and others – including the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls – around the serious ramifications of this frankly terrifying piece of legislation.
This Bill raises serious huge public interest concerns, particularly around safety issues for women and children. These changes could impact on safe spaces for females, and women have the right to single sex spaces. There are insufficient safeguards to protect women and girls from predatory biological males (who identify as women), raising concerns about environments like women's prisons and other female-segregated spaces.
I understand that this Bill can be challenged under Section 35 of the Scotland Act – and that making this order would allow UK ministers to prohibit Holyrood’s presiding officer from submitting this legislation for royal assent. Whilst I appreciate that no decision has been made, I would request that the Government look closely at the legislation and its impact on the UK-wide 2010 Equality Act – and oppose this move by the Scottish Government with everything in its legal and constitutional arsenal.
As you know, this Bill allows 16 and 17-year-old children to legally transition without parental consent. This is abhorrent. It would also set a very worrying precedent. As you know, this proposed legislation would allow children would be able apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate for the first time. The time a person is afforded to live in their acquired gender before they can be granted the document would also be reduced. The Bill is constitutionally divisive and unworkable, compromising the rights of organisations to provide single-sex services throughout the UK.
I have already undertaken considerable work in this area. I liaise regularly with individuals, organisations and pressure groups who are working to safeguard the rights of girls and women. This Bill is not simply an erosion of women’s rights but constitutes a direct assault on those rights – which have been so hard-fought and won.
I have no issue with people living in accordance with whatever beliefs and lifestyle they choose. My objection is when the assertion of these rights impinges upon the freedom and safety of others – particularly those groups most at risk.
My intention is not to target a particular community, but to make sure that trans rights do not come at the expense of those of other groups who also have a right to safety, dignity, and respect.
Yours sincerely
Mark Jenkinson MP
