Court challenge over Scotland's gender bill set for September

The Scottish government's plans would make it easier for people to obtain a gender recognition certificate

The Scottish government will go to court in September to challenge Westminster's decision to block controversial gender reforms.

The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which aimed to make it easier to legally change gender, was passed by MSPs in December.

But it was blocked over the potential impact on UK-wide equality laws.

The Scottish government will make its case against the decision in a three-day hearing from 19 to 21 September.

It will take place at the Court of Session in Edinburgh and be heard by judge Lady Haldane.

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In 2022, she ruled that the definition of sex was "not limited to biological or birth sex".

In what became know as "the Haldane decision", she judged that in the context of the 2010 Equality Act, sex referred to a person's sex recognised by law, and not simply their biological sex.

The judicial review was sought after Scottish Secretary Alister Jack utilised never-before-used powers under Section 35 of the Scotland Act - the legislation which established the devolved Scottish Parliament - to prevent the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from gaining royal assent.

Opponents of the gender reforms are concerned about their potential impact on single-sex spaces and other protections for women and girls

As it stands the legislation would allow people to self-identify and to obtain a gender recognition certificate without having to first obtain a medical diagnosis.

Mr Yousaf previously insisted that if the Scottish government had failed to challenge the use of Section 35 it would send a "signal that the UK government can veto any legislation they disagree with at a whim".

The SNP leader added that legal action was the "only means of defending our Parliament's democracy from the Westminster veto".

However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the UK government had taken "very careful and considered advice" on the issue.

He added that UK ministers had concerns about "how Scotland's gender recognition act would interact with reserved powers, about the operation of the Equalities Act" as well as over the "protection of women elsewhere in the UK".