TheQuartering [3/7/2022]
HARRY Potter author JK Rowling tonight attacked a planned new Holyrood law that would allow people to self-ID as the opposite sex without a medical diagnosis.
The writer and feminist campaigner told her 14 million Twitter followers about the “likely negative consequences of this legislation for women and girls, especially the most vulnerable”.
And Ms Rowling said the SNP-led Scottish Government “can’t pretend it wasn’t warned” if there are “consequences” due to the legislation.
The remarks from the author – an outspoken critic of gender self-ID plans – came days after the Scottish Government published its Gender Recognition Reform Bill.
The proposed law, expected to be passed by Holyrood in the coming months, would mean people can be issued with a new birth certificate showing a different sex based on self-declaration, and without a diagnosis for gender dysphoria.
The timescale will be cut to six months after living in their new gender – rather than the current two years. And the Bill lowers the minimum age for changing legal gender, from 18 to 16.
But there have been concerns from some feminist groups about the impact on women’s rights and female-only spaces.
Last week, Scottish Government Social Justice Secretary dismissed the concerns about the new legislation increasing risks to women and girls, telling Holyrood: “We must be clear that all the evidence tells us that the cause of violence against women and girls is predatory and abusive men – not trans people.