Top KC: ‘Scot Govt floundering in biological denialism’

The Scottish Government has been in court again over its redefinition of the meaning of “woman”.

In February, For Women Scotland (FWS) won its case against the Scottish Government after it included men who identify as women in its revision of the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018.

But in fresh proceedings, which finished last week, the campaign group’s advocate Aidan O’Neill KC argued that ministers had revised statutory guidance on the Act in a way that still attempts to change the definition of “woman”.

‘Legal sex’

The guidance now claims that where Gender Recognition Certificates (GRCs) have been issued to people who identify as the opposite sex, their sex becomes the one stated on their GRC.

biological denialism

But FWS accused the Scottish Government of “trying to redefine ‘woman’ yet again, this time by incorporating the subgroup of male transsexuals living as women and who have obtained a GRC”.

In the Court of Session, O’Neill described the Government’s defence as one of “biological denialism”.

‘Chaos’

Counsel for the Scottish Government Ruth Crawford KC said that FWS was “wrong” to state that “sex is a matter of fact, not of law, and that there is no category of legal sex as distinct from biological sex”.

Crawford claimed that possessing a GRC “results in an acquired sex, for all purposes” and “therefore a person’s sex can as a matter of law change”. O’Neill dismissed the notion as “a prescription for chaos”.

He asked: “How is anyone, without some coherent theory of statutory interpretation behind that pick and mix approach, supposed to apply the law? The Scottish ministers are simply all over the place.”

Judge Lady Haldane’s ruling is expected next year.

Rebellion

Despite the largest rebellion during the SNP’s 15 years in power, and recent polling confirming the scale of public opposition, the Scottish Government still plans to allow people as young as 16 to choose their own legal sex under legislation which would make it much easier to obtain a GRC.

So-called concessions to the gender self-ID Bill reportedly being considered by the Scottish Government “barely scratch the surface” of its problems, The Christian Institute’s Ciarán Kelly has warned.

He said: “Dangerously speeding up the ‘sex swap’ process and replacing medical diagnosis with self-declaration will tragically push even more gender-confused young people onto the transition conveyor belt. These Government-backed amendments are being portrayed as ‘concessions’ but in fact are little more than window dressing.”