No need to apologise to anti-gender law campaigners, says Robison
The Scottish Government is expected to announce it will not appeal the decision to block the Bill further.
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Your support makes all the difference.Scotland’s Deputy First Minister has said she does not feel the need to apologise to campaigners who opposed her Government’s gender reforms.
The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed at the end of last year before being blocked by the UK Government – a decision that was deemed lawful by the Court of Session.
The Scottish Government is expected to announce it will not appeal the Court’s ruling on Wednesday, ending the Bill’s chances of becoming law.
On Tuesday night, as the news of the decision broke, SNP MP and prominent gender reform critic, Joanna Cherry KC, said those who opposed the Bill deserved an apology.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland on Wednesday, however, the Deputy First Minister – who was the minister in charge of the Bill when it was passed – disagreed.
“I don’t believe so,” she said.
“I think I listened to all of the arguments through taking forward the Gender Recognition Reform Bill.
“It was clearly a polarising debate.
“Fundamentally, at the heart of it, it was trying to make the lives of trans people just that little bit better.
“But we are where we are.”
Ms Robison said the Government would find other ways to improve the lives of transgender people.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Ms Cherry said: “Pleased to hear Shona Robison confirm on @BBCScotNine that there will be no appeal against the court judgment on #GRRBill. It’s the right decision in the round.
“All that remains now is for a long overdue apology from MSPs from all parties who rubbished the legitimate concerns of lifelong feminists & #LGB activists.”
She added: “Biggest lesson from all of this is that Holyrood needs to up its game on bill scrutiny & evidence based policy making. Sometimes rights conflict & safeguarding really matters.”
On Tuesday, Ms Robison told the BBC the UK Government’s evocation of a Section 35 order to overturn the Bill and prevent it from becoming law was “outrageous”.
The legislation had attempted to simplify the process for transgender people to obtain a gender recognition certificate (GRC) and officially change their legally-recognised sex.
But the UK Government ruled it could have an adverse impact on equalities legislation across the UK.
“We took all of the factors in the round, around what the case and what the prospects of the case would be, as well as all the other considerations and the impact, indeed, on the trans community.
“So, we’ve made that decision for all of the reasons that we have set out,” Ms Robison said.
She added: “The point here is that Scotland’s democratic institution overwhelmingly supported a piece of legislation that is within devolved competence.
“And because the UK Government and the Secretary of State for Scotland didn’t like it, he thought he could ride roughshod over the democratic wishes of this Parliament.”
Alba Party Holyrood leader Ash Regan, who left the Scottish Government and the SNP over her stance on the gender law, said she welcomed the decision.
She told The Nine: “I think it’s welcome, I’m disappointed that unfortunately the Scottish Government has got itself into this mess to begin with, it didn’t have to do that.
“But what I will say, whilst this legislation, which is deeply unpopular with the Scottish public, is blocked for now, what I would like to see is that this legislation is withdrawn and I would like to see the Scottish Government say they will never implement this Bill.”