The decision to ban trans people from single-sex toilets at the Scottish parliament will not be “policed”, MSPs have been told.
Following the change in policy, no one will be expected to show ID or birth certificates to use the toilet, Christine Grahame said on behalf of the cross-party Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), The Scotsman reported.
Following the UK Supreme Court ruling that the definition of “sex” in the 2010 Equality Act referred to biology, and interim guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the SPCB decided that use of “all facilities designated as male or female” within Holyrood is to be based on “biological sex” so as to be “in line with the court judgement”.
The move was branded “rushed” and “unworkable” by Scottish Trans who also claimed it would “exclude trans people from participating in Scottish democracy, whether as staff or as visitors to the parliament”.
A number of toilets in the Scottish parliament building have already been designated as gender-neutral, and Grahame, who first became a member of the Scottish parliament in 1999, said the changes had been made in a “tolerant and sensitive” manner, stressing it was an “interim” decision, ahead of a full consultation.
However, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said barring trans people from toilets made them “feel unwelcome and demeaned in their own workplace” and asked the SPCB to promise people would not have to show paperwork “merely because someone intolerant suspects them of being transgender”.
Grahame pointed out that both single-sex and gender-neutral facilities have been made available “in the expectation that people choose a facility respecting what we have done to balance different rights in line with our legal responsibilities”.
She went on to say: “Like other public sector bodies – and I can assure [you], this is not going to be policed by the corporate body – we have a complaints process which staff can advise on, also set out on our website. But we are certainly not monitoring the use of public facilities as a corporate body.”
When the change in policy was first announced, presiding officer Alison Johnstone said it was “vital that the parliament fulfils its legal responsibilities… to give clarity to all those using the building”, and to ensure “confidence, privacy and dignity” for staff and visitors.
However, Scottish Trans and Equality Network have written to the SPCB, claiming the change would “make trans people feel significantly less welcome at parliament”, while 17 MSPs and more than 30 Holyrood members of staff signed an open letter expressing “deep concern”.
But, according to The Scotsman, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: “People across Scotland will be astonished that SNP, Labour, Green and Lib Dem politicians staged an urgent debate about toilets.”
Calling the debate a farcical waste of time, he added: “This time could have been spent discussing falling education standards, a lack of GP appointments, pot-holed roads, rising household bills or violence on our streets.”
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