Scottish Trans

05/08/2026

Our Policy & Public Affairs Coordinator Flo has written a guest blog for the wonderful folks over at Lighthouse - Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop about what we can do now in the face of feeling loss and despair at the EHRC's Code of Practice.

You can read it here:

What Can We Do Now?: A Guest Blog from Scottish TransGuestView Linked BooksCategoriesWe're immensely grateful to be able to share this guest blog by Florence Oulds at Scottish Trans, outlining her response to the EHRC's new Code of Practice and what can do as a community.Since last year’s Supreme ...

05/08/2026

The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations officially comes into effect today.

If services across Britain all operate in the way it describes going forward, it will cause serious and significant harm to trans people. We will not be able to access safe, appropriate services that reflect the reality of our lives and that meet our needs. This is indeed how we used to be treated, before a series of legal decisions throughout the 90s and 00s found that doing so caused us to face discrimination and breaches of our human rights.

Whether the problem is the Code, or the problem is the law – something must be done. The Supreme Court ruling has turned the clock back nearly 30 years on legal protections for trans people. And it has turned on its head the UK Parliament’s intentions when it passed both the Equality Act 2010, and the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

Scottish Trans, Trans+ Solidarity Alliance and TransActual will continue to campaign to restore our rights, and will never stop working towards our vision of a safe and dignified UK where trans people can flourish.

To find out more, see the statement on our website here: https://www.scottishtrans.org/ehrcs-code-of-practice-comes-into-effect/

03/08/2026

Scotland is now the only part of the UK that has not published a draft bill to end conversion practices.

This comes after the introduction of the UK Government’s “Conversion Practices Draft Bill” for England and Wales and a private members bill, “Conversion Practices (Criminalisation) Bill”, in Northern Ireland.

Extensive work has already been done in Scotland to develop a Scottish Bill to end conversion practices. This includes the work of the Scottish Parliament Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee investigation and report in 2021-2022, the Ending Conversion Practices Expert Advisory Group in 2022, and a Scottish Government public consultation in 2024. However, no bill has yet been introduced to the Scottish Parliament, and while we wait, LGBTQIA+ people will continue to be subjected to harm.

We are calling upon the Scottish Government to introduce a bill to the Scottish Parliament, in line with their 2026 Holyrood manifesto commitment, as soon as possible to end these abhorrent practices for good.

We have published an analysis, ‘Why are we waiting: The Case for a Scottish Conversion Practices Bill’ which you can read on our website here:https://www.equality-network.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Why-Are-We-Waiting-The-Case-for-a-Scottish-Conversion-Practices-Bill-EN-ST-Analysis.pdf

To find out more about our work on ending conversion practices, you can visit our webpage on this here: https://www.equality-network.org/our-work/policy-team/ending-conversion-practices/

03/08/2026

Reminder: If you joined the Sandyford adult gender service waiting list before August 2024 but haven't heard from them as part of their recent validation exercise, you have until this Sunday 9th to get in touch with them or be removed from the waiting list.

Sandyford carried out an exercise to check that everyone on their adult gender services waiting list who joined before August 2024 wanted to remain on the list. They said that they contacted everyone via letter, email or text, but have still yet to hear back from over 500 people.

If Sandyford contacted you but you still haven't responded, please do so as soon as possible. If you believe you joined the list before August 2024 but haven't heard from them, please contact them directly: [email protected]

For more information, see our website: https://www.scottishtrans.org/sandyford-adult-gender-service-finishes-waiting-list-validation/

Please share this post to ensure everyone who is on the waiting list

23/07/2026

Update: Sandyford’s adult waiting list exercise has now finished. If you joined before August 2024 and haven’t heard from them, please get in touch.

The Sandyford Adult Gender Service has finished its validation exercise where it reached out to everyone on its waiting list to check if they wanted to say on the list, and has heard back from the majority of the people they contacted.

However over 500 people have not yet responded, and Sandyford have said that if they do not hear from them by August 9th, that they will be removed from the waiting list. If you have been contacted but have not yet responded, please do so as soon as you can.

People referred to the Sandyford adult waiting list after August 2024 are not being contacted as part of this exercise, so if you joined after this date you don’t need to get in touch.

If you haven’t received a letter, text or email from Sandyford letting you know how to respond, you can email them at [email protected]

For more information on the exercise, see our post here: https://www.scottishtrans.org/sandyford-validation-exercise/

Please share this post to make sure everyone who might be on the waiting list is aware.

14/07/2026

Today is International Non-binary People's day, celebrated as part of Non-binary Awareness Week!

We celebrate the incredible non-binary community across Scotland today, and every day. We are proud to work in solidarity and be in community with you, working to create a Scotland where everyone is able to exist as their whole, true, selves with safety and freedom.

Want to learn more about trans and non-binary people's experiences in Scotland? Read our report here: https://www.scottishtrans.org/our-work/research/scottish-trans-and-non-binary-experiences-report/

We've recently released a GP self-advocacy guide, to help trans and non-binary people navigate healthcare and advocate for the care they are entitled to. You can access it here: https://www.scottishtrans.org/gp-self-advocacy-guide/

14/07/2026

As the weather warms up this summer, we're aware that folk who use binders or are on medication may be disproportionately impacted by the heat. Here are some tips on how to stay cool as temperatures rise ☀️

👕 Wear loose clothing where possible - if using a binder, do so safely and check manufacturer's guidance for wearing in the heat
💧 Drink water frequently to stay hydrated
🏠 Stay inside during the hottest hours (typically between 3-5PM)
💊 Check whether any medication interacts with the heat, so that you can take preventative steps if needed!

Let us know how you've been keeping cool so far, and if you're struggling with the heat be sure to visit https://ow.ly/K8oU50ZniQZ for further advice from the NHS 😎

13/07/2026

We need a comprehensive law in Scotland to end conversion practices, and the harms they cause, as soon as possible.

Read our full statement, as well as our analysis of the recent Northern Ireland and England and Wales draft bills: https://www.equality-network.org/our-work/policy-team/ending-conversion-practices/why-are-we-waiting/

Scotland is the only part of the UK that has not introduced draft legislation to end conversion practices – we need our own comprehensive law to end the harm they cause as soon as possible.

Read our analysis on why a Scottish bill would be best for our community here: https://www.equality-network.org/our-work/policy-team/ending-conversion-practices/why-are-we-waiting/

We’ve published this analysis following the introduction of the UK’s Government’s draft conversion practices bill for England and Wales, and a private member’s bill in the Northern Ireland Assembly, comparing them to the Scottish Government’s draft proposals for a bill from 2024.

While the Scottish Government could potentially opt in to the UK Government’s bill so it covers Scotland as well, we think this would be a mistake as their legislation fails to adequately address all forms of conversion practices and includes major loopholes that we cannot guarantee the UK Government or Parliament will fix.

These failures include:

- not covering the suppression of sexual orientation or gender identity
- very broad exemptions for healthcare, including unregulated pseudo-therapy
- a de facto loophole for those who “consent” to conversion practices

Survivors of conversion practices have worked for years, often at great personal cost to their wellbeing, to make sure that the Scottish Government’s proposals would not just ban conversion practices, but end them for good. It would be a deep shame for the Scottish Government to abandon this work for a much weaker bill that would, in many cases, not even criminalise the horrendous experiences that those survivors went through.

At the link above you can read a short summary of our key thoughts on why Scottish legislation would be better, as well as our more in-depth analysis which compares the different draft bills in detail.

If you have been affected by conversion practices or require support, you can contact the LGBT Health and Wellbeing helpline here: https://lgbthealth.org.uk/service/conversion-practices/

08/07/2026

This is our final week sharing our findings from each section of our Scottish Trans and Non-binary Experiences Disabled People’s Spotlight Report. You can read it here:https://www.scottishtrans.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Scottish_Trans_and_Non-Binary_Experiences_Disabled_Peoples_Spotlight_Report.pdf

Today we’re focusing on the Cost of Living (p.56-63).

Disabled trans and non-binary people were much more likely to have been impacted by rising costs than non-disabled trans and non-binary people, and more likely to be anxious about things like running out of food and not having enough money to cover bills.

As disabled trans and non-binary trans people earned less and often struggled with benefits, this meant they had even less money to pay for things like private gender affirming care due to long waiting lists for NHS care, and often had to choose between these costs and everyday expenses.

Where support services did exist, the people we heard from often didn’t think they would be accessible, and/or whether they would be welcoming to them as disabled trans and non-binary people.

07/07/2026

Resisting Transphobia in Edinburgh are organising a protest this Thursday (9th July) in Edinburgh, against the EHRC code of practice. It's part of a nationwide, decentralised, protest, organised by the Bodily Autonomy Coalition.

Join them if you're able to - and contact your MP, to urge them to take action. Use our tool: tinyurl.com/stopthecode