JK Rowling wears ‘Nicola Sturgeon, destroyer of women’s rights’ t-shirt’

JK Rowling threw himself behind Scottish campaigners who marched to Holyrood in a protest against controversial transgender plans today.

For Women Scotland (FWS) protesters gathered outside the Scottish Parliament this morning for a demonstration in opposition to the proposals, claiming they are putting women’s rights ‘in crisis’.

Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has led the fight to introduce legislation to make it easier for transgender people to be legally recognized as their preferred gender.

But the plans have faced backlash in recent months, with a watchdog this week warning that allowing people to identify themselves could cause ‘confusion’ about their status in other parts of the UK.

FWS bosses called on activists this morning to “come, vote and send a message that women matter,” as a committee meeting on the matter was held.

By posting a photo of herself wearing a t-shirt with the message “Nicola Sturgeon, destroyer of women’s rights,” Harry Potter author Ms. Rowling gave the group her support.

She tweeted: ‘I stand in solidarity with @ForWomenScot and all women who are protesting and speaking outside the Scottish Parliament. #NoToSelfID’.

Asked by journalists about the post, a Scottish government spokesman said he had not seen it.

FWS says it campaigns to protect and strengthen the rights of women and children, and aims to protect ‘sex’ in law and policy, ‘help people speak up’ and ‘promote evidence-based discussion’.

A statement on its website adds: ‘We believe there are only two genders, that a person’s gender is not a choice and cannot be changed. Women have the right to dignity, safety and fairness.’

Speakers at today’s meeting included former Scottish Labor leader Johann Lamont and Maya Forstater of Sex Matters.

Ms Lamont told protesters that when the Scottish Parliament was created, “a parliament where policy, action and legislation were shaped by an understanding of what caused division and inequality”.

She said: ‘The specific role was for the committees, who would break through the wall of Parliament and allow the people of Scotland to participate in what the world could be. That didn’t happen.

“It is not their job to decide before the committee meets who they will listen to, who they will speak to, and only listen to those who already agree with them.

“I’m not saying that the committee should agree with everything we say. But they have to listen, they have to challenge, they have to argue, they have to investigate.

“They shouldn’t fire, because in that world of layoffs you shoot the messenger. You ignore the message, you make bad laws and other people live with the consequences.

“So my challenge is to my friends and all the people out there who have chosen the honor of being. Your job as legislators is not just to put into law what you think is right, but to understand the laws of unintended consequences.”

Ms Lamont said she is “aware” of the importance of women’s rights.

She told the crowd: ’40 years ago I was told by young men, ‘This is not the right time. There are other campaigns that matter. There are other people who are more vulnerable.”

“I said then: if you don’t tackle women’s inequality, we’ll never have real equality, and that’s just as true now as it was then.”

It comes at a time when a majority of MSPs in the Equal Treatment, Human Rights and Civil Law Committee have recommended today that the general principles of the Gender Recognition Reform Act (Scotland) be passed.

Committee chair Joe FitzPatrick said: “We believe these important reforms will improve the lives and experiences of transgender people.”

Documents submitted by the Scottish government alongside the bill estimate that the changes could cause the number of people applying for a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) to increase from 30 per year to 250-300.

Five MSPs on the committee supported the legislation, but the two Conservatives – Pam Gosal and Rachael Hamilton – opposed it.

The bill includes plans to speed up the time it takes to obtain a GRC, and also lower the age for obtaining a GRC from 18 to 16.

A medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria would no longer be necessary, eliminating the need for doctor’s reports.

The length of time a person must have lived in their ‘acquired gender’ before applying for a job would be reduced under the legislation from two years to three months – although a three-month ‘reflection period’ would be introduced in the process.

A previous consultation by the Scottish Government found that 60% of respondents were in favor of moving to a self-declaration system.

A majority of MSPs on the committee were in favor of removing the need for medical evidence or diagnosis “on the assumption that transgender people know their own thoughts.”

However, some in the committee were ‘concerned that the removal of the gender dysphoria requirement and the requirement for medical evidence could extend the GRC process to a large and more diverse group of people’.

They fear this “could potentially mean the process is prone to abuse by malicious actors, especially predatory men.”

Concerns have also been raised about the impact the reforms could have on same-sex spaces for women and girls, such as women’s toilets or changing rooms.

The report said most MSPs in the committee agree that while such views are ‘held sincere’, they are satisfied that the bill does not remove any of the existing protections women have under the Equality Act 2010, ‘including the ability to to exclude transgender people from single sex services where proportionate and appropriate’.

The committee’s report said: “The majority are satisfied that the bill will not change or remove women’s rights, make changes to the way toilets and changing rooms work, redefine what a man or a woman is, nor the rights of transgender people will change or expand.’

Mr FitzPatrick said MSPs had heard a “wide range of views” as they scrutinized the legislation.

It comes after a list of issues with the proposal, including access to services, was sent to the UK and Scottish governments by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

The watchdog said “practical problems or confusion are likely to arise in cross-border situations” if the Equality Act is passed by Holyrood.

The letter stated that people who changed their gender in Scotland but in another part of the UK would face problems regarding their ‘legal status and rights’.

Officials added that problems would arise whether or not the UK government accepted GRCs issued in Scotland.

Both employers and services would struggle to determine a person’s legal sex and may have to take the ‘pushy or abusive’ measures of asking for a birth certificate or GRC, The Telegraph reported.

The watchdog urged both governments to “work constructively together” to resolve the issues before the bill takes effect.