Non-Binary Equality Working Group: report and recommendations - March 2022

Lived Experience Reflections: "Bay"

Being agender means that I don't relate to any notion of gender. To me that also means I'm trans, since I don't have the gender assumed of my sex assigned at birth. The non-binary and wider trans community is not a homogenous group, both in our relationships to gender and in broader demographic factors such as class, disability, ethnicity, religion and sexuality. Despite this I'm confident our recommendations cover a range of the key issues caused by binary structures in Scotland. Addressing the issues we highlight would be a step towards ensuring trans people have the same level of access, representation, and legal recognition as cis people in Scotland. We are not asking for luxuries: we are demanding fairness.

I'm pessimistic that the Scottish Government will take meaningful steps towards our recommendations. Not due to the recommendations being particularly difficult or unreasonable. I believe these recommendations are well within our government's ability to meet, and that they would see benefits for the whole of Scotland. No, I'm pessimistic because we have seen delays and inaction from the Scottish Government in their support of trans people before, which has often felt like a response to the increase in transphobia we have seen in recent years. I desperately hope that they prove me wrong and show that my home can be somewhere people like me can thrive free from transphobia.

On the other hand, I'm hopeful that our report and recommendations can help people from across Scotland to be more inclusive. From highlighting ways to address the trans healthcare crisis, to emphasising the importance of respectful data representation for non-binary people, our recommendations can have applications across almost all industries, and within both the public and private sector.