Never before has the UK vetoed legislation passed by Scotland. However, on Monday the UK government said it would do so. For those who do not believe that transgender people are now at the center of the civil rights struggle, this is enough: The law the UK wants to block is called the Gender Recognition Reform Act. and aims to make it easier for transgender people to change their name and gender in documents.
The law was approved in Scotland at the end of December after much debate, and the British government was quick to say it wanted to reserve the right to oppose it. This possibility is provided for by section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 and can occur when local (in this case Scottish) laws conflict with national laws. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are effectively part of the United Kingdom but have a semi-autonomous government with broad powers. The British Parliament, if it sees fit, may ask the Speaker of the Scottish Parliament not to present the Bill to the King, thus preventing it from taking effect. In fact, this hypothesis has never occurred in Scottish history, and for this reason Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon spoke of “frontal assault on our democratically elected Scottish Parliament”.
At the press conference, Sturgeon also accused British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of “using transgender people as a political weapon” and warned the Scots about the risks of “normalizing” the Scottish veto. The law in question provides that transgender people over the age of 16 can independently request an official certificate confirming the gender in which they recognize themselves. At the moment, this opportunity is provided only to persons over 18 years of age and with a psychological diagnosis. According to the UK government, the risk is to encourage “fraudulent” requests for certain services and opportunities to ensure equal opportunities and that places reserved for women become less safe. However, it is not only the rights of the trans community that are at stake now: Scottish nationalists have not taken the intervention of the British government well and are unlikely to give up their self-affirmation.
Source: Elle