1st June 2025
Mr John Swinney, MSP , First Minister of Scotland
Dear First Minister
Members of Scottish Parliament have gone on record over the past year as stating that transgender people are welcome and respected in Scotland and yet we are now in the position with holders of Gender Recognition Certificates (GRC) and Birth Certificates being told by the Chair at the Equality Human Rights Commission that these documents’ only value in future will be for recording death or when getting married but not in employment or when using public services.
I hope therefore that you will be encouraging SNP MP’s in Westminster to scrutinise the EHRC guidance and to pass a resolution to reject it.
I have been a registered voter in Aberdeenshire South and North Kincardine for the past 26 years, the last 4 as a British citizen living in Europe for my own safety and human dignity and that of the international women’s organisation of which I was the elected International President for the five years up to October 2025. The United Nations Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, details in his report of 5th May 2023 the levels of hate and violence against the whole transgender community in UK in the years up to his visit. The situation in Scotland against transgender people was particularly vociferous during this period – see paragraphs 20 to 29 of the document – https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/sexualorientation/statements/eom-statement-UK-IE-SOGI-2023-05-10.pdf
The new EHRC guidance forces some people who have a birth certificate indicating officially that they were born a girl, must, in future, be treated by service users as men, it also removes GRC holders previous rights on Sex and Sexual Orientation. (The reverse applies for some people whose birth certificate states that they were born a boy but must in future be treated as a woman, unless they look like a man)
In UK, it should be politicians who make laws whilst lawyers may interpret them.
EHRC say that they expect GRC holders and transgender people without a GRC to police their own actions in public and failure to do so will be a criminal offense. How exactly is this new law to be monitored and enforced when service providers are expected to identify and reject transgender people based solely upon their looks? I suspect that implementation will be chaotic and will lead to civil disobedience on a grand scale.
Government passed the 2004 Gender Recognition Act and the 2010 Equal Rights Act, both of which worked well, albeit with some difficulties by some people around interpretation of women’s spaces. There was actually clarity on the protection of women’s spaces written into the 2004 GRA and which GRC holders agree to abide by but which has become muddied by service providers custom and practise over the years.
The Supreme Court overrode Scotland’s Court of Session and Westminster politicians in April 2025. Westminster politicians overrode the Scottish Government in 2023. Please use the rights that you already have to challenge this EHRC Guidance.
If transgender people are to be truly welcome in Scotland, I would urge SNP members in Westminster to challenge this draft document and ask that it be examined and amended as necessary so that transgender people are not isolated and barred from society.
The Prime Minister has shown no inclination to challenge or question the Supreme Court, saying that it gives him clarity on the matter. Hopefully, SNP will take this opportunity to live up to their transgender supportive comments and achieve an acceptable balance for transgender people between the Holyrood and the Westminster response to the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, possibly with the support of your new Celtic Alliance partners and the Green Party.
I look forward to reading and hearing in the news of the SNP support for transgender people in action over the next month.
Yours sincerely
Zara Strange (Ms)
cc Dave Doogan, MP, Leader of SNP Group at Westminster
(edited 03 June 2026)
