Wokeism of the day *Revised Mod Note in OP and threadbanned users*

Scots should be able to alter their legal sex unlimited times throughout their lives because some people repeatedly “change their minds” about whether they are male or female, an expert has said.

Prof Sharon Cowan, an academic from the University of Edinburgh’s school of law, claimed that some transgender people had a “shifting sense” of their identity and that a proposed overhaul of gender laws should be widened to accommodate the group.

The SNP wants to allow Scots to change their legal sex by signing a declaration, and lower the period in which someone must live in their “acquired gender” from two years to three months, before a further three-month “reflection period”.

The current requirement for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria would be scrapped, although under current plans, anyone making a false declaration would face a jail sentence of up to two years.

However, Prof Cowan, who specialises in feminist and queer legal studies, claimed that the safeguards were unnecessary and there was no reason that a person’s sex should be “locked down” for life.

The proposals by Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP will allow Scots to change their legal sex by signing a declaration CREDIT: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

“In my research, I have found a certain degree of flexibility in people’s sex/gender identifications across their life courses between being cisgender, transgender, non-binary or gender fluid,” she said, in a written submission to MSPs.

“It seems unnecessary to enforce upon people a permanent administrative categorisation that does not acknowledge this. Those who want to remain in that sex/gender will do so, and those who do not, will not, regardless of such a legal declaration.”

She added: “I would be wary of initiating a provision that risks criminalising or penalising those who apply for recognition who do not live according to society’s perceptions of their ‘acquired gender’ or who change their minds or about their sex/gender.

“I do not think there should be a fee for changing the marker on your birth certificate as there is no fee for having it initially recorded at birth, and this record might be wrong.”

A Holyrood committee is currently scrutinising the proposed reforms and will call Prof Cowan as a witness on Tuesday.

‘Unworldly and foolish’ proposals attacked

Critics of the proposals fear that the changes, if they become law, could be exploited by male sexual predators who could make a declaration in an attempt to gain access to women-only spaces such as prisons or changing rooms.

There are also claims that they could impact on women’s rights in fields such as sport and the workplace.

Susan Smith, a director at For Women Scotland, a campaign group which opposes the changes, said that Prof Cowan’s submission “encapsulated the nonsense and the leaps of logic required to sign up to gender ideology”.

She added: “Prof Cowan’s idea of allowing multiple changes would be a gift to those who have cause to conceal their identity.

“We are sure a professor of law is not intent on aiding the criminal community to run identity rackets, but a moment’s reflection should have told her that is precisely who will benefit from her unworldly and rather foolish proposal.”

Gender dysphoria referrals soar

The Royal College of General Practitioners in Scotland also raised concerns that family doctors are struggling to cope with an influx of patients experiencing gender dysphoria, particularly children.

Patients referred to one of Scotland’s four gender identity clinics face waits of up to 40 months for an appointment and some have bought puberty-blocking drugs themselves from the internet.

There were 559 children referred to the specialist Sandyford clinic in Glasgow in 2019, compared to just 37 in 2013.

“Our membership tells us that GPs often feel it is outside their area of competence to undertake assessment or treatment for patients with gender dysphoria,” the submission from RCGP Scotland said.

“Furthermore, a major issue facing this area of healthcare is the significant lack of robust, comprehensive evidence around the outcomes, side effects and long-term consequences of treatments for people with gender dysphoria, particularly children and young people.”