SNP ministers face new trans row legal threat
The Scottish Government is being threatened with legal action unless it ends the 'unlawful' practice of allowing biological males to use female-only spaces 'immediately'.
Maya Forstater, CEO of Sex Matters, has written to SNP ministers urging them not to wait for Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) guidance on how April's Supreme Court ruling should be implemented.
Judges ruled that biological sex defined if a person is male or female and put women- only spaces off-limits to biological males who identify as women.
It was a huge defeat for Scottish ministers after campaign group For Women Scotland took them to court. Since then there have been calls for the SNP government to order public bodies, including prisons, hospitals and schools, to fully comply with the ruling.
Speaking at the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh last night, Ms Forstater insisted the government has been 'stalling' by failing to take action until the EHRC issues guidance.
And she warned that her human rights charity is now prepared to take legal action.
She said: 'The judgment has clarified the law. Its effect is not suspended pending updated guidance from the EHRC. It is the law now. To the extent that the Scottish Government does not immediately stop its unlawful practices we may decide to commence proceedings. We have consulted with counsel and are prepared to litigate.'
The Scottish Government last night said: 'We are reviewing policies, guidance and legislation potentially impacted by the judgment.'
Police Scotland has been ordered to carry out a review after it failed to disclose a transgender prisoner's criminal record.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance said the force had made an 'error' after a lawyer got a blank rap sheet back from the Crown Office for convicted killer Alex Stewart – who was originally called Alan Baker.
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