Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf confirms trans women will be protected under new misogyny laws

Humza Yousaf has confirmed that trans women will be protected under new misogyny laws in Scotland. 

The Scottish government are set to introduce a bill to address prejudice and violence against women and girls – which rightly includes trans women and girls – before the current parliamentary term ends in 2026. 

The First Minister said that “anyone affected” by misogyny would be safeguarded, no matter their gender identity. 

Speaking to BBC’s Good Morning Scotland, he said: “Women and girls will be protected, and trans women will be protected as well, as they will often be the ones who suffer threats of rape or threats of disfigurement for example.

“When a trans woman is walking down the street and a threat of rape is made against them, the man making the threat doesn’t know if they are a trans woman or a Cis woman. They will make that threat because the perception of that person [is] as a woman.”

The First Minister then added that the bill would be processed with “urgency and pace” after several women “raised concerns” over gender not being included in the recent Hate Crime Act. 

He also explained that the Scottish Government would not be spending an “inordinate” amount of time choosing whether to follow the recommendations of the controversial Cass Review into gender care. 

The review – which was led by consultant paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass – urged that clinicians use “extreme caution” when prescribing puberty blockers to trans youth. 

The First Minister said “all recommendations” within the report would be considered, including banning children’s puberty blockers, but that there “wasn’t a case” to close down the Sandyford centre, which provides gender and sexual health services in Glasgow.

Yousaf’s confirmation comes as a shocking report on the happiness of trans youth in Scotland has been released. 

A survey of over 1,200 LGBTQ+ young people aged 13-25-year-olds in the region found that general happiness among trans people has dropped by a whopping 50 per cent in a decade.

Participants were asked “How happy do you feel with your life as an LGBTQ+ young person in Scotland?” The percentage of trans respondents feeling “Happy””or “Very happy” dropped from 59 per cent in 2012 to just 28 per cent in 2022.

The report also found that just one in three trans people (31 per cent) felt their home town was a safe enough space to socialise in.