Question 1. Do you have any comments on the proposal that applicants must live in their acquired gender for at least 3 months before applying for a GRC?

The draft Bill currently proposes that a gender recognition certificate will only be granted if the applicant states that they have been living in their acquired gender for 3 months prior to the date of application and intend to continue to live in their acquired gender permanently. There is no evidence to suggest this arbitrary 3 month time period is necessary, and we do not support it. We will be calling on the Scottish Government to remove this requirement. We encourage everyone to respond, and in particular: If you’re a trans person you could talk about your experiences of changing various ID and the impact of having to wait longer to change your birth certificate than your other documents.

If you’re a trans ally, please talk about why you don’t support making trans people wait 3 months between changing their other ID and applying for a gender recognition certificate to change their birth certificate.

Question 2. Do you have any comments on the proposal that applicants must go through a period of reflection for at least 3 months before obtaining a GRC?

The draft Bill currently proposes that applicants must wait for 3 months after their initial application before confirming that they wish to continue with their application. They would then be granted a gender recognition certificate. Similarly to Question 1, there is no evidence to suggest this arbitrary 3 month reflection period is necessary, and we do not support it. We will be calling on the Scottish Government to remove this requirement. We encourage everyone to respond, and in particular: If you’re a trans person you could talk about how much reflection trans people do before starting to transition and how you feel about being required to have a ‘period of reflection’ after applying for a gender recognition certificate.

If you’re a trans ally, please talk about why you don’t support requiring trans people to have a ‘period of reflection’ as though they haven’t already considered their decision.

Question 3: Should the minimum age at which a person can apply for legal gender recognition be reduced from 18 to 16?

The draft Bill proposes to change the law so that 16- and 17-year olds will be able to apply for legal gender recognition. However, it does not propose a system to enable trans children and young people under 16 to apply for legal gender recognition. This question is only about the age of legal recognition and does not affect medical treatment available to young people and children. We support the Scottish Government’s proposals to lower the age for gender recognition to 16. This would be in line with the rights of 16- and 17-year olds in Scotland to marry, gain employment, vote, and be held legally responsible for their actions. We think that 16- and 17-year olds should also be able to change their birth certificate to match who they are. However, we will also be telling the Scottish Government that trans children and young people under the age of 16 should be able to update their birth certificates with aid of parental or guardian support. This would match with their existing ability to change their sex on their school records, medical records and passport. Often children and young people under 16 need to use their birth certificate more than adults do, so being able to change it is particularly important to protect their privacy. We encourage everyone to respond, and in particular: If you’re a young trans person, you could talk about the difference this would make to you and why this matters to you.

If you’re a trans person over 18, you could talk about the impact that getting legal gender recognition sooner would have had on you.

If you’re a trans ally, or a parent, you could talk about why you would support this for young people.

Question 4: Do you have any other comments on the provisions of the draft Bill?

The Scottish Government wants to know if you have any other comments on the draft Bill, including if you think there are any other issues which gender recognition reform should include. We will be telling the Scottish Government about our support for reforms to the Gender Recognition Act but calling on them to go further so that every part of the trans community can benefit from this legislative change. Support for Gender Recognition Reform Making legal gender recognition a more straightforward process will relieve a lot of stress for many trans people, who will no longer need to gather evidence and medical reports to be recognised as who they are. Trans people will still be able to access medical care and social and psychological support as part of their transition, but that will be separate from their application to update their birth certificate. We encourage everyone to respond, and in particular: If you’re a trans person with a gender recognition certificate, you could talk about how this reform would have helped your experience of applying.

If you’re a trans person without a gender recognition certificate, you could talk about what difference this reform would make to your ability and willingness to apply.

If you’re a trans ally, please talk about why you support reform of the Gender Recognition Act. Non-binary people Although this Bill represents an improvement in trans people’s rights, there are major gaps that will mean it only benefits some trans people. Non-binary people (those who don’t identify as exclusively male or female) will still not be legally recognised, which will leave them with inconsistencies in important documents as well as a lack of recognition in day to day life. We will tell the Scottish Government that this Bill is not a success for the whole trans community while it leaves non-binary people out. We encourage everyone to respond, and in particular: If you’re a non-binary person, you could talk about the impact that being able to access gender recognition would have on you.

If you’re not non-binary, you could talk about why you think it’s important that non-binary people are recognised and treated with respect.

Question 5: Do you have any comments on the draft Impact Assessments?