Nicola Sturgeon’s trans law will hurt English women’s rights, Government fears

The Government fears Nicola Sturgeon’s trans law will undermine women’s rights in England’s schools, hospitals and prisons, The Telegraph understands.

It is concerned that the controversial legislation could make it much harder for English hospitals to guarantee that patients receive intimate care from members of the same sex.

Government lawyers have been commissioned to look at the issue and also examine whether the new laws mean that single-sex schools could be forced to change their rules to allow people who have changed gender to attend.

Under Edinburgh’s new law, which has been passed by the Scottish Parliament, people will no longer require a medical diagnosis before they can legally change their gender and receive a “gender recognition certificate”.

Children will also be able to legally change their gender at the age of 16, rather than having to wait until 18 as at present.

However the UK Government says only Westminster can legislate on equalities issues.

Examination by lawyers

The Scottish legislation is currently being examined by government lawyers before ministers make a decision later this month on whether to overturn it.

On Saturday, a government source told The Telegraph: “The SNP has rushed into this legislation without full consideration of its implications for the safety of women and girls.

“This is not a UK Government versus a Scottish Government thing, it’s about ensuring sensible legislation that doesn’t risk making life harder and more dangerous for UK citizens.”

Government lawyers are understood to be looking at three issues: how the new law could affect the NHS, education and criminal justice across the UK.

On health, they are considering whether the new law would mean that intimate same-sex care would be harder to guarantee. The law makes it much easier for people to change their legal sex, meaning there could be more health workers who have changed gender.

What it means for education

The lawyers are also considering what the new rules could mean for education.

At present, single-sex schools can decide their own policies on sex and gender, such as whether they admit people who have changed their gender.

However, the Scottish legislation brings down the age at which people can change gender from 18 to 16.

This means that with more sixth-formers having changed their gender, single-sex schools could face pressure to change their admission rules.

There could also be implications for criminal justice, as the Prison Service in England and Wales treats people differently based on whether they have a gender recognition certificate.

There are concerns that any criminal with a certificate recognised by the UK Government would be placed in the women’s estate, and only moved out, or into a special unit for trans prisoners, if they were considered extremely high-risk.

‘Tears up the UK’s criteria’

Maya Forstater, executive director of Sex Matters, said: “The Scottish Bill tears up the UK’s criteria for awarding a gender recognition certificate based on medical assessment, and allows anyone to get a GRC based on a declaration, with no medical treatments or safeguards.

“This means there will be many more people able to get a certificate, and organisations will never be able to feel confident excluding someone who is clearly male from female-only spaces and services.

“A key question for the UK Government is whether they will accept people who have been through the Scottish system but were born in England and Wales to change the sex on their birth certificate. Scotland would in effect act like a ‘haven’ of light regulation that would then spill out across the UK.”

She added: “For schools there would be huge problems. Single-sex schools are allowed by law, but now schools would face having to admit a child of the opposite sex, and would be threatened with criminal penalties if teachers and staff ‘disclose’ the child’s actual sex to other staff, pupils or parents.

“The UK Government does not have to accept this outcome. It should refer the Bill to the Supreme Court and make sure that the Scottish Parliament only legislates within its own domain, and does not ignore women’s rights and child safeguarding.”