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LONDON, Dec. 21 (AP) — A Scottish government plan to make it easier for people to change their gender for legal purposes has sparked a heated debate, with lawmakers wrangling inside Edinburgh’s parliament and rival groups of protesters at the Demonstration outside.
A bill introduced by the Scottish National Party-led government would allow people to transition through self-declaration, eliminating the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. The government said it was an easy step that would improve the lives of transgender people by allowing them to obtain official documentation corresponding to their gender identity.
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Opponents, including “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling, have argued that streamlining the process risks allowing predatory men into spaces designed for women, such as shelters for survivors of domestic violence.
The Scottish Parliament is due to resume debate on the bill on Wednesday after sitting until midnight the previous day. A final vote is planned, but several amendments may be delayed.
Tuesday’s debate raged, with audience members chanting “Shame on you” after lawmakers rejected an amendment aimed at preventing convicted sex offenders from obtaining gender recognition certificates.
Lawmakers also rejected an amendment that would have set the minimum age for gender transition at 18 instead of 16.
Supporters of transgender rights demonstrated outside Parliament House in Edinburgh, urging lawmakers to back the bill. One of them, Beth Douglas, said the bill being debated would allow people to have birth certificates — and eventually death certificates — that match their gender identity.
“Everyone will have a day when we get death certificates,” said Douglas, who runs an LGBT+ group. “When this happens to me, I want the sex on the death certificate to be correct. May I rest in peace and die with dignity.”
At another demonstration by opponents, Rowling’s husband read a message from the author in which she called the bill “the greatest step back on women’s rights in our lifetime”.
The bill is likely to pass, setting Scotland apart from the rest of the UK where a gender dysphoria diagnosis is required before individuals can change their gender designation on their identity documents.
Under the legislation, transgender people are allowed to modify markings if they have lived with a different gender for three months, or six months for 16- and 17-year-olds. The current period is two years.
Opponents say the legal change could endanger women and girls, who are currently guaranteed access to single-sex spaces such as changing rooms and shelters.
Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, said the changes could allow men to exploit loopholes “to enter women’s spaces and access women”.
The Scottish government says transgender people can still be excluded from single-sex spaces under current legislation.
“Trans rights do not compete with women’s rights,” said Social Justice Minister Shona Robinson. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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