Efforts by the Scottish government to rush through laws allowing individuals aged 16 or over to change gender through self-identification have been strongly criticised.
Reform of the Gender Recognition Act is planned within the next year under a power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens. But according to campaign group For Women Scotland, the proposals ignore women’s views. It said the general public are increasingly opposed to the change and questioning why it was necessary.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the group’s director Marion Calder said: ‘The general public have an understanding there’s only two sexes and they will be confused and astonished.’
Fred Drummond (see photo), the Evangelical Alliance UK’s director for Scotland, said: ‘It is alarming that the Scottish Government wants to rush through the legislation and remove safeguards that are designed to protect and help those struggling with their identity.
‘As evangelical Christians we believe that God created men and women – that our identity is something given by God, rather than chosen by us.
‘We have huge concerns both with the haste of this and the potentially damaging implications for many people, particularly young people struggling with questions of identity. The proposed legislation will also put female-only spaces at risk and many women’s groups have raised safety concerns.’
Drummond emphasised: ‘As Christians we believe that questions around this legislation should be handled with love and grace as well as honesty.’
A helpful challenge – but I don’t recognise those views
This article was written in response to the article "Same-sex attraction and identity: Are evangelicals on the right track?" …