Gender row Scotland: Jeane Freeman says she would not have backed gender reform law

A former SNP minister and key ally of Nicola Sturgeon has said she would not have supported the outgoing First Minister’s controversial gender reform law.

Jeane Freeman, who was health secretary between 2018 and 2021, said there were legitimate concerns that were not addressed.

MSPs passed the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill by 86 votes to 39 before Christmas, approving reforms which would allow trans people to obtain a gender recognition certificate (GRC) without the need for medical reports.

The Bill would also allow 16 and 17-year-olds to apply for a GRC for the first time, and would reduce the amount of time a person has to live in their acquired gender before they can be granted the document. However, it has since been blocked by the UK Government.

Former SNP health secretary Jeane Freeman

Ms Freeman spoke about the issue in a BBC Disclosure programme examining the events leading up to Ms Sturgeon’s resignation.

Asked if she would have backed the legislation, Ms Freeman said: "No, I wouldn't have supported it as it currently sits. But I would have been in Parliament making an argument for some of the concerns that were raised, that I considered to be legitimate, to be addressed."

She added: "My view would have been that we needed to pay more attention to the concerns being raised, particularly by women, about their space and about the ability of men, and the opportunity of men, to abuse transgender recognition."

Ms Freeman said the case of Isla Bryson, the double rapist who was initially held in a women’s prison, "appeared to symbolise the risk that a man who had sexually abused a woman, who had raped a woman, could decide for their own reasons to now say that they were a woman too".

However, she said the UK Government was wrong to block the legislation.

Ms Sturgeon came under huge pressure over the Bryson case, but insisted her decision to step down was “not a reaction to short-term pressures”. Instead, she said it came from “a deeper and longer-term assessment”. The future of her gender reforms will now feature prominently in the SNP leadership race.