‘Who am I to Judge?’

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By Jason Michael

TRANSGENDER PEOPLE and their experiences as a minority in our society have not featured greatly in my own experience of the world. Over the last few years, however, we have all become aware of a growing debate concerning the rights of trans people, and more particularly where these rights come into conflict – or are perceived to come into conflict – with the hard-won rights of women. This deeply polarising discussion has swept through the Scottish independence movement, causing division and a bitter and entrenched fight between trans rights activists and women’s rights activists who make the case that men cannot become women and therefore cannot access female spaces or occupy the same spheres of gender and socio-historical experience as women. Not fully understanding the complexities of the discussion, and as someone not belonging to either of these groups, I was content to remain silent and…