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1./ URGENT. Please email your MSP today. The Scottish Parliament will be asked tomorrow to mark Transgender Day of Remembrance. But the motion shouldn't be passed because it's full of wild exaggerations and downright mistakes. You can read it here
https://bb.parliament.scot/Motions/DetailsPartial/S5M-23346/20201113
https://bb.parliament.scot/Motions/DetailsPartial/S5M-23346/20201113
2./ While it is true that 350 trans people have been killed worldwide in the last year not one of those was murdered in Scotland. In the UK there are currently more convicted killers who identify as trans than there have been trans people killed ....in the last decade.
3./ Many of the deaths to which the motion refers occurred in Brazil, 157 out of 350. 62% involved prostitution. This motion obscures the lived reality of many transwomen's lives and the dangers they are placed in by prostitution. https://transrespect.org/en/tmm-update-tdor-2020/
https://transrespect.org/en/tmm-update-tdor-2020/
4./ Brazil's homicide rate is one of the highest in the world, and deep racial inequality means it impacts people of colour unduly. Suggesting the situation in Scotland is comparable to a country suffering under an extreme Religious Right government is insulting to Brazilians.
5./ The Motion states that 48% of trans people under 26 have attempted suicide. The source is an old study by the small LGBT charity PACE which referred to the suicide history of just 27 self-selected transgender people; in the context a statistically almost useless number.
6./ Dr Nuno Nodin, the researcher who conducted the survey expressed regret his findings had been misinterpreted. Such misuse of evidence he said "happens often when research is used by non-scientists in the context of their own agenda."
7./ You can find out more about just how misleading is the use of these sort of suicide statistics at the Fairplay For Women site. https://fairplayforwomen.com/suicide/
https://fairplayforwomen.com/suicide/
8./ The Motion refers to increases in hate crimes against trans people when in fact the recorded figures for trans people have declined in Scotland since 2017; and remain small. This motion contributes to unnecessary pessimism and a sense of panic. https://www.copfs.gov.uk/media-site/media-releases/1845-hate-crime-in-scotland-2018-19
https://www.copfs.gov.uk/media-site/media-releases/1845-hate-crime-in-scotland-2018-19
9./ The Motion is regrettable because, if it passes, it would enter falsehoods and statistical mistakes into the public record while being exploited by lobby groups to perpetuate a victim narrative that trans people are particularly at risk of murder, suicide and hate crimes.
10./ Might not the Motion cause resentment by suggesting our MSPs are obsessed with just one minority? Could they not find the time to mark the tragic rise in deaths of elderly people attributable to the pandemic or the increase in domestic violence against women during lockdown?
11./ As gay peeps we know from experience how important it is for minorities to build bridges and balance the need to defend OUR rights with the need to acknowledge the claims of others. Society is a shared project. It's not a one way street. It can't always be ONLY about us.
12./ You can find your MSP herePlease be respectful. Our MSPs don't have time to check facts. They sometimes pass wrong motions from the best of intentions. Your email could help them realise they've been misled by lobby groups with ulterior motives. https://beta.parliament.scot/msps/current-and-previous-msps
Please be respectful. Our MSPs don't have time to check facts. They sometimes pass wrong motions from the best of intentions. Your email could help them realise they've been misled by lobby groups with ulterior motives. https://beta.parliament.scot/msps/current-and-previous-msps
