CAMPAIGNERS have warned the Scottish Government that its long-delayed proposals to streamline the process for trans people to obtain gender recognition falls short of what is required.

The Scottish Government, which first started drawing up plans to update the gender recognition act in 2017, has published its blueprint for allowing trans people to obtain certification easier and in a more dignified way.

Under the proposed legislation, the system used by trans people to obtain a certificate legally recognising their acquired gender will be simplified and sped up.

Holyrood’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee has launched evidence sessions from experts and interested parties on the plans.

MSPs were told that the current set-up for trans people in Scotland “is far behind international best practice”.

Vic Valentine, Scottish trans manager of the Scottish Trans Alliance, pointed to the fact trans people require “psychiatric diagnosis” as part of the process.

They added: “It is not fair that we need to provide this psychiatric diagnosis to be recognised as who we are.”

Valentine said the proposals were “not perfect” adding that it “would not see Scotland become world-leading if the bill were to go into effect”.

They criticised the failure to include proposals to recognise non-binary people and containing no provision to recognise trans people under the age of 16, with the age only being lowered two years from 18 under the plans.

Valentine said that recognising non-binary people “would have meant that it was an ambitious law reform”.

They added: “The policy of legal recognition for non-binary people is definitely an aspect of the bill, I would potentially say the aspect of the bill, in fact that the whole of the trans community including trans men and trans women are most disappointed about.”

Dr Mairi Crawford, chief executive of LGBT Youth Scotland, also raised concerns about the ambition shown by the Scottish Government.

She said: “Trans young people are very clear that this bill does not go far enough or it does not make Scotland a policy leader in this area.

“The average age of coming out as trans is 15. That would mean a 15-year-old person coming out in 2017, when work actually started on this bill, would be about 20 now. The gender recognition certificate is the only document they can’t obtain from 16.

“While we know discrimination is not allowed in the workplace, we recognise hearing from young people when opportunities are lost or delayed once an employer finds out they are trans.”

Dr Crawford told MSPs that “progressing this bill cannot come soon enough for young people”, adding it would “give them a better start in life”.

She pointed to the “additional hurdle” of trans people having “mismatched documentation” and the “risk of being outed”.

Dr Crawford highlighted that more than 1,000 people 17 and under and on the waiting list in Scotland for a first appointment – which can be a four-year wait for some.

She added: “There’s no way they can even consider a gender recognition certificate under the current scheme.”

Colin Macfarlane, director of Stonewall Scotland, told MSPs the reforms have “been a long-time coming”.

He added that a three-month period of living in an acquired gender as proposed would be “unnecessary”.

But Melanie Field, chief strategy and policy officer for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said her organisation has called for the legislation to be paused while more work is carried out.

She said: “Over the last year or so, our board has considered a range of work related to gender reassignment.

“We reached the position that more detailed consideration is needed before legislative change is made.

"This is because of the continued lack of certainty about the practical consequences of individuals and society of extending the ability of changing legal sex from a defined group with a recognised medical condition who have demonstrated their commitment and ability to live in their acquired gender to a wider group.”

Ms Field said that “questions continue to be raised in different quarters about potential consequences” including the “barriers facing women”.

She said: “The current polarised debate is causing much harm and distress to people on all sides.

“It is our view that those questions should be engaged with and discussed and addressed carefully, only and with respect before legislative change is made.

“In the meantime, we consider that the established legal concept of sex together with the existing protections with gender reassignment discrimination and the ability for trans people to obtain legal recognition of their gender collectively provide the correct balanced legal framework for the protection of everyone.”