We are delighted to report the SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon unveiled the pledge ahead of a hustings event with the other main party leaders in Edinburgh.
Labour, the Conservatives, Lib Dems and Scottish Greens also back greater rights.
We would welcome these plans, as they would allow young people to legally change their gender; it could mean the law would recognise that some people have a non-binary gender and are neither men nor women.
And it would aim for all police officers to receive appropriate training on the investigation of hate crime.
‘Medical diagnosis’
James Morton, manager of the Scottish Transgender Alliance, welcomed the pledges, which he said were in line with international best practice.
He added: “That would mean enabling people to change the gender on their birth certificate without intrusive medical diagnosis, recognising trans people as the experts on their own identities.
“It would allow young people to legally change their gender, with parents’ support if under 16.
“It would also mean the law recognising that some people have a non-binary gender, that is they are neither men nor women.”
Where do the other parties stand?
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said her party’s manifesto would commit to legislating to remove the psychiatric diagnosis requirement from legal gender recognition.
She also pledged to reduce to 16 the age at which people can get legal recognition of the gender they live as, and ensure legal protection for people who do not identify as either men or women.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: “I want to get to a stage where absolutely every teacher in every school in Scotland feels equipped to be able to deal with these issues because every child needs to be able to trust the people in their schools.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: “I think we should be making more progress on education. I don’t think we should just be training a small number of teachers I think we should be training all teachers.
“We should be getting gender recognition right, we need to remove the archaic system that we have just now. People should have the right to choose for themselves.”
Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie highlighted the “unspoken issue” of faith schools.
He said: “If we’re talking about all teachers then we’re also talking about all schools.
“And although there is good and bad practice on both sides of the denominational divide, we still aren’t acknowledging that a great many young people are being educated in an ethos which says a lot of us in this room are and believe it or not they use this phrase – inherently morally defective.”
We wait in anticipation Scotland
