Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Things had been getting a bit tetchy in the chamber, with repeated points of order from the Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, who was seeking to understand why the presiding officer ruled out a last-ditch amendment from one of his colleagues.

The Orkney MSP Liam McArthur, who is in the chair as deputy presiding officer for this stage of the bill, was having none of it, telling Mr Ross that he was "skirting close to being in contempt of Parliament".

This all centres around the Conservatives' concerns that the Court of Session ruling about trans women with a gender recognition certificate being women in the eyes of the law, has not been properly considered by Parliament during the passage of this bill. The government argues that's because it doesn't change anything.

Parliament has been suspended again to allow business managers to meet to discuss the timetable for the rest of the evening.

A further MSP, Roz McCall, has raised concerns about the impact the late sitting has on family life. She is a carer for her husband.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Scotland has been speaking to experts in countries where gender reform laws have already been introduced.

Denmark was the first European state and second in the world behind Argentina to implement a law allowing people to self declare their gender.

The change happened in 2014 with no public outcry, according to Dr Chris Dietz who wrote a book on the effects of self-identification in the country.

There the age limit was 18 and had a six-month reflection period, unlike the Scottish bill where the age limit is 16 and the reflection period is either three months or six if the person is under 18.

Some critics of the Scottish bill fear that reform would allow violent men to access single-sex spaces. However, Dr Dietz says the law has not caused "ground breaking change" in Denmark - particularly in terms trans peoples' access to public services.

"I think is something Scotland also should be aware of - that a lot of other areas like employment, health care, housing, where trans people suffer, might not be affected by these changes to self declaration and legal gender recognition," he says.

"However, to my knowledge there’s not been a systematic misuse of the law by people who want to gain access to women’s spaces without sincere reasons to do so."

Lauren Moss
LGBT & Identity Correspondent | BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Around 25 to 30 countries and states now have some form of gender self-ID after Argentina became the first to introduce it in 2012.

The UK will recognise a change of gender from more than 40 countries and territories.

At the minute, people with a legally obtained document from those countries can apply for a GRC in the UK via what’s called the “overseas route”.

Usually they just need to provide the certificate and marital status and aren’t required to show other documents such as a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

Where it gets complicated is that this approved list hasn’t been updated since 2011 and a number of countries on it, such as Malta, Belgium and Denmark, have since introduced some form of self-identification.

It's not known how many GRCs from countries with self-ID have then been issued here, but if this Bill passes in Scotland and isn’t recognised elsewhere in the UK it indicates a potential shift away from what appears to have been the status quo.

SNP MSP Regan has been telling the Holyrood chamber why she will be voting against the government.

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Holyrood’s public gallery has been quite busy throughout the debate, despite the parliament keeping somewhat unusual hours.

Campaigners who support and oppose the reforms have come out to see the decisive exchanges, and for the most part have contained themselves to the rather narrow parliamentary rules set for them – such as the ban on clapping.

A few were escorted out for a talking-to following an outburst of cheering in response to one speech.

And the gallery was briefly cleared entirely yesterday following some noisy heckling, although people were allowed back in after complaints from MSPs about this being a “disproportionate response”.

One MSP told colleagues that “the people of Scotland are watching” this debate.

The presence of so many members of the public is perhaps a reminder to the politicians that these reforms do not exist within a political bubble - and that making good law comes before some of the political bickering that has at times crept into the debate.

Image source, Getty Images

While attitudes towards gender may have become more fluid in recent years, many things in society are still binary - from changing rooms to elite sporting events to prisons.

Some people are wary about changing this.

There are also concerns about access to women-only spaces and services, including hospital wards and refuges.

That goes some way to explain why the bill has become so controversial despite, in theory, only a small number of people being directly affected by any reforms.

The NHS estimates that transgender people make up about 0.5% of the population.

Image source, PA Media

As we reported earlier, among the protestors outside Holyrood has been SNP MP Joanna Cherry.

She spoke at a demonstration organised by the groups For Women Scotland and the Scottish Feminist Network.

Also speaking has been SNP MSP Ash Regan, who resigned as a minister over the government's the plans to make it easier for someone to change their legally-recognised gender.

Ms Regan has just said in the Holyrood chamber that she will be voting against the bill "because I believe that women and girls matter".

Partisan? Yes, but there is real cross-party work in action toopublished at 17:07 Greenwich Mean Time 21 December 2022

17:07 GMT 21 December 2022

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

It has been interesting to follow some of the cross-party alliances in the chamber during this debate.

For example, Tory MSP Russell Findlay put forward a series of amendments in concert with SNP backbencher Michelle Thomson, who is critical of the legislation.

Equally, the changes successfully proposed by SNP member Gillian Martin were formally supported by Tory Jamie Greene – who backs the plans.

So while the debate has been sharply partisan at times, there have also been some real attempts at cross-party working.

And there have been clashes between colleagues too, with Ash Regan – who resigned as a minister to oppose this bill – and some other SNP members giving Shona Robison a tough time.

Image source, PA Media

If you are just joining us, welcome to our live coverage of events at Holyrood, with debates and voting on the Gender Recognition Act.

MSPs are spending a second day working their way through amendments to controversial plans to make it easier for trans people to change gender.

Talking went on long into the night on Tuesday and it looks like it will be a similar story tonight.

By our reckoning, there is still up to four hours of debate on amendments to go before MPS get round to a final vote.

To put that in context, we’re now at the point in the proceedings MSPs had expected to get to last night.

We'll continue to bring you all the key points and analysis here.

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Things are back up an running in the chamber. Before the last suspension, efforts by Labour's Pam Duncan-Glancy to frustrate malicious attempts to have someone's gender recognition certificate (GRC) revoked were scuppered.

The bill allows an interested party to ask a sheriff for a GRC to be revoked if they're concerned it was applied for fraudulently, or if the person was coerced, or didn't understand the implications.

Ms Duncan-Glancy was seeking to ensure that wasn't abused by someone who didn't like or approve of a trans person's status and was seeking to block it unfairly.

Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison argued that there were other legal remedies to deal with vexatious complaints, but promised the system would be monitored.

Lauren Moss
LGBT & Identity Correspondent | BBC News

One of the biggest sticking points in this Bill is how to ensure people do not make fraudulent claims to change their legal sex.

Ministers say anyone who knowingly makes a false application could face a two-year prison sentence and an unlimited fine.

Applicants must declare they intend to live in their acquired gender for the rest of their lives and that has raised some questions about whether those who may wish to change their gender later, or what is referred to as “de-transition”, may be penalised.

Sources in the Scottish government insist that isn’t the case and anyone who submits a genuine claim to change their legal sex would go through the same process again to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate.

But this is just one of the examples of where the Bill is causing some confusion and controversy in and outside of Holyrood.

Is the debate being played out or played with?published at 16:00 Greenwich Mean Time 21 December 2022

16:00 GMT 21 December 2022

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

There has been disquiet among some members about some of the tactics employed by Conservative MSPs during this debate – pushing amendments to a vote even when they look doomed.

That added to a somewhat tetchy air during last night’s very late sitting, with plenty of heckling every time a point of order was raised.

There was some discussion today that perhaps things were running a bit more smoothly, with less “filibustering” in evidence, and a serious focus on the issues at the heart of the bill.

However, business has now been suspended while officials confer on whether or not an unscheduled amendment can be added by Tory MSP Rachael Hamilton – meaning yet another delay to proceedings.

The Tories will insist that they are tabling these votes in good faith, and want to make changes to the bill – and to “keep the receipts” by forcing the government to explicitly vote for every provision in the bill.

But many members are increasingly frustrated by the way the procedure around the debate has played out.

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Back to the latest suspension of proceedings at Holyrood, and Rachael Hamilton's argument over the Court of Session ruling that a transwoman with a gender recognition certificate is a woman as far as the law is concerned.

The section of the bill the Conservative MSP is seeking to remove was added by the Labour party at Stage 2. Section 15A states:

"For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Act modifies the Equality Act 2010."

It's not clear whether the presiding officer will accept the manuscript amendment, or indeed how long this latest suspension will last.

SNP MP Joanna Cherry, a strong and vocal opponent of the Scottish government's gender reform plans, is among groups of protestors outside Holyrood.

Ms Cherry has previously claimed she was subjected to an "18-month campaign" of abuse because of her support for women's rights.

The Edinburgh MP was removed from her post as the party's justice and home affairs spokeswoman at Westminster in 2021.

Writing in the New Statesman, external, the MP later claimed her belief that "women are adult human females" made her unpopular with some in the SNP.

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Parliament has been suspended again - this time because the Conservative MSP Rachael Hamilton is seeking a manuscript amendment.

A manuscript amendment is one that is put forward after the deadline for amendments has passed.

It can only be accepted by the presiding officer or the relevant committee convener.

Ms Hamilton argues this is necessary because the Court of Session ruling that a transwoman with a gender recognition certificate is a woman as far as the law is concerned, was made after the deadline for amendments to the Gender Recognition Reform bill had passed.

As we have been reporting, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross isn't happy that his reaction to people being excluded from the public gallery isn't contained in the official parliamentary report.

His concerns relate to the debate being suspended on Tuesday after protesters were vocal in their criticisim of MSPs.

Conservative MSP Russell Findlay had tabled an amendment that sought to prevent convicted sex offenders being allowed to change their gender.

The amendment was defeated by 59 votes to 64 with two abstentions. This sparked angry scenes in the gallery as protestors shouted at MSPs who voted on the amendments.

Deputy presiding officer Annabelle Ewing then suspended parliament so that the gallery could be cleared.

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Back to the Holyrood chamber, and Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone has a lot of investigating to do.

Conservative MSPs have raised points of order about the proceedings, which she has promised to look into.

The Conservative leader Douglas Ross, believes concerns he raised about members of the public being excluded from the public gallery after one person interrupted the debate last night, are missing from the official report.

While other MSPs are unhappy that the media knew the breakdown of some of the vote results before the politicians.

The current process for obtaining a gender recognition certificate is, according to the Scottish government, too difficult and invasive.

It argues that the system causes distress to an already marginalised and vulnerable minority group.

So, the new rules would mean no diagnosis or medical reports would be required, and the period in which applicants need to have lived in their acquired gender would be cut to three months.

The minimum age that someone can apply would be lowered from 18 to 16 - although 16 and 17-year-olds would need to have lived as their acquired gender for six months rather than three.

Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent

The first vote of the afternoon has seen the government back amendments tabled by the Conservative MSP Jamie Green about the fraudulent use of a gender recognition certificate.

This is being seen as adding an additional safeguard to try to prevent abuse of the system.

He told Parliament it would send a clear message that you cannot abuse the new process for nefarious purposes.

The Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said the punishment would be up to two years in prison and an unlimited fine.