Scotland: MSPs approve plans to lower legal gender change age

MSPs have backed the Scottish government's plans to lower the age at which Scots can change their legal gender. 

An amendment was passed during a marathon debate in Holyrood on Tuesday night which will allow 16 and 17 year olds to apply for a gender recognition certificate. 

It was one of over 150 proposed amendments to the Gender Recognition Act being debated by MSPs ahead of a final vote that was due to take place on Wednesday. 

Tuesday's debate got through only 64 of the amendments before lights went out in the chamber just after midnight, forcing the session to a close. 

The remaining amendments will be debated on Wednesday afternoon. It is not clear when the final vote on the Bill will take place. 

If passed, the legislation will make it easier for Scots to change their legal gender by removing the requirement of medical evidence and reducing the time applicants must live in their chosen gender from two years to three months - or six months for 16 and 17 year olds. 

The plans have divided MSPs and been strongly opposed by Christians.

The Christian Institute's Deputy Director for Communications, Ciarán Kelly, warned that the legislation stands to "cause even greater misery and confusion for children and their families".

"Children need protecting from radical gender ideology and the obvious and best thing to do is to remove 16 and 17-year-olds from the legislation completely," he said.

In November, the Equality and Human Rights Commission advised against lowering the legal age for a gender recognition certificate. 

In a briefing to MSPs, the equalities watchdog noted that the legal age in Scotland for issues "of less significance" like driving, buying alcohol and getting a tattoo is over 16.

News
Christian widows in Nigeria hold fast to faith as they rebuild lives after violence
Christian widows in Nigeria hold fast to faith as they rebuild lives after violence

Hundreds of Christian widows in Nigeria’s Plateau State are putting their lives back together after losing husbands, homes and livelihoods to violence.

The Christian candidate who lost the election but won my respect
The Christian candidate who lost the election but won my respect

Helen Spiby-Vann secured just 63 votes in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, but her campaign made me reconsider the value of an explicitly Christian voice in politics, writes Christian Hacking.

Can we afford the society we have created?
Can we afford the society we have created?

Is spending spiralling out of control? Should the state be doing everything we expect of it, or can we simply no longer afford the society we have created? 

Canada turns abandoned historic church into tourism hub
Canada turns abandoned historic church into tourism hub

Worship is not on the menu, it seems.