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The Scottish Government has announced it will not bring new appeals to try to save the British government’s ban on the Gender Self-Determination Act adopted a year ago in the courts which facilitated transition registration for transgender people.
A court ruled this month that the veto was legal, and although Scottish authorities had until December 29 to appeal, the Social Justice Minister, Shirley Ann Somerville, confirmed that they would not do so and said that they would focus, among other things, on improving health care for transgender people. However, Somerville has made it clear that they will not withdraw the project and that Edinburgh wants to work with London to reach some sort of agreement in the future.
The legislative veto was an unprecedented move by the British government, which warned of potential contradictions on equality issues at the state level. On the other hand, the Scottish authorities accused London of interfering in purely local affairs.
The reform reduced to sixteen the age at which a sex change could be requested from the administration, abolished the requirement to submit a medical report, and reduced to three months the period that the applicant must live according to the sex he claims, which is six months if he is a minor.
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