https://web.archive.org/web/20210429190315/https://mf...

It’s been clear to me for a while that the new trans activism is [...] pushing to erode the legal definition of sex and replace it with gender.

Like many others, I have deep concerns about the effect the trans rights movement is having on both [education and children]

I’m concerned about the huge explosion in young women wishing to transition and also about the increasing numbers who seem to be detransitioning (returning to their original sex), because they regret taking steps that have, in some cases, altered their bodies irrevocably,

I’m interested in freedom of speech and have publicly defended it, even unto Donald Trump

I find almost everything that Mr Trump says objectionable. I consider him offensive and bigoted. But he has my full support to come to my country and be offensive and bigoted there.

Key Features of the Bill:

* It would have removed the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria and supporting medical evidence.

* It would have introduced a self-declaratory process, meaning applicants could apply to the Registrar General for Scotland based on their declaration.

Applicants would have had to make a statutory declaration (a legally binding oath) that they have been living in their acquired gender for a minimum of three months (six months for 16 and 17-year-olds) and intend to do so permanently.

* A three-month reflection period would be required between applying for a GRC and confirming the application.

* The Bill included safeguards, making it a criminal offence to make a false statutory declaration or a fraudulent application, with a potential penalty of up to two years' imprisonment.

In essence, yes, the Scottish Parliament passed a bill that would have made a person's legal gender change dependent on a solemn, legally-binding declaration, rather than medical* approval.

I believe the majority of trans-identified people not only pose zero threat to others, but are vulnerable for all the reasons I’ve outlined. Trans" people need and deserve protection. Like women, they’re most likely to be killed by sexual partners. Trans women who work in the sex industry, particularly trans women of colour, are at particular risk. Like every other domestic abuse and sexual assault survivor I know, I feel nothing but empathy and solidarity with trans women who’ve been abused by men."

"So I want trans women to be safe. At the same time, I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe. When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman – and, as I’ve said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones – then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside. That is the simple truth."