Gender recognition reform: 'Some predatory men will take advantage of this' says Joanna Cherry

SNP MP Joanna Cherry has warned MSPs that the Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) bill will give “new rights to everyone” and “some predatory men will take advantage of this”.

Speaking at a rally organised by For Women Scotland outside the Scottish Parliament ahead of the second day of debate on the legislation, Cherry told the crowd: “It has been said repeatedly by the First Minister that this bill gives no new rights to trans people, and she is actually right about that.  

“What the bill does is it gives new rights to everyone so that anyone can self-identify as the opposite sex with minimal safeguards. And those of us who have worked with the survivors of sex abuse and violence abuse know that some predatory men will take advantage of this to get access to vulnerable women.”

The proposed reform, introduced by Shona Robison MSP in March, will remove the need for applicants to have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria to have their sex changed on legal records. It reduces the minimum age for this from 18 to 16 and cuts the length of time that applicants must have lived in their acquired gender from two years to three months.    

It also introduces a specific offence of knowingly making a false statutory declaration, which will carry a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment and/or a fine, if passed.    

Yesterday MSPs voted into the night on amendments to the government bill. There are still over 80 amendments to be voted on this evening.  

Cherry was clear that her views are not from a hateful place, but from a place of concern for women, telling the crowd “sometimes rights conflict” and “we have to have a civilised discussion”.  

She told the crowd: “I am not a transphobe, and I am not a bigot, I am a human rights lawyer who knows that human rights are universal and that sometimes rights conflict. When that happens, we have to have a civilised discussion about how we all rub along together.  

“I believe in equal rights for everyone, it would be pretty surprising if I didn’t as a lesbian and as a feminist and unlike some of those virtue signalling in the building behind us, I have a proven track record professionally as a lawyer and in my public life as an activist standing up for equal rights.

“When I was a bit younger than I am now, I fought against the homophobia of section 28, while some of the leading politicians in the building behind me were sitting on the fence. So, I will take no lectures about equality or human rights.  

“It has been said repeatedly by the First Minister that this bill gives no new rights to trans people, and she is actually right about that. What the bill does is it gives new rights to everyone so that anyone can self-identify as the opposite sex with minimal safeguards. And those of us who have worked with the survivors of sex abuse and violence abuse know that some predatory men will take advantage of this to get access to vulnerable women.”