Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 03 March 2022
I thank Pam Duncan-Glancy for her remarks and for her questions.
It has taken time to get to this point, and I think that we all understand the reasons: the complexity of the issue, and the two consultations. Getting to this moment has been a difficult process. That is the fact of the matter.
It is absolutely essential that everyone’s rights are protected. As I set out in my statement, it is as important to set out what the bill does not do as it is to set out what it does. I therefore remind people that the legislation is about changing the process by which someone obtains a gender recognition certificate; it does not change any of the rights that are already held under the Equality Act 2010. That is important. Specifically, on single-sex services, I made it clear that there are exceptions whereby transgender people—even those who have a gender recognition certificate—can, in certain circumstances, be excluded from those services.
It is important that we try to build consensus. Part of that involves focusing on the evidence and on what the bill proposes, rather than on some of the other matters that are not related to the bill but that sometimes circulate around the discussion of the issue.
Over the past few months, I have tried to meet people who have pretty different views on the bill: from those who wanted us to go further with the bill to those who did not want the bill at all. In those discussions, I tried to focus on what the bill is trying to do, rather than on the issues that are not related to it. I will continue to do that, and I will have an open-door policy. However, it is the responsibility of all of us in this chamber to focus on the bill and try to answer the questions as best we can.