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Will the member take an intervention on that point?

To my colleague Jamie Greene, I say that some of the things that he said he does not know, I do, and I am honoured to have the privilege to talk from that point of view today.

This is a wonderful day—a day when I can stand in this chamber and take part in shaping legislation that will improve the lives of citizens in Scotland who are some of the most marginalised, misunderstood and vilified people in our society. The progress that Scotland was making to become a world leader in human rights has undoubtedly been hindered by a campaign of fear and misinformation against the trans population. Trans people continue to suffer poorer outcomes relative to the wider population, and we have the opportunity to do something that takes a small step to improve those outcomes.

The Scottish Government must work, and is working, to promote the rights of everyone—disabled people, black and minority ethnic people, LGBTQ+ people and women—to protect them from discrimination. We, as lawmakers and public figures, have a duty to work to end the stigma and prejudice that is often experienced in this context, particularly by trans people, so that they feel safe, secure and accepted in our society. My goodness, they need it.

We all know our minds. Why are trans people any different? If we think that they do not, we need to reflect deeply on that internal bias and confront that discrimination. Trans people should be trusted to make decisions about their own bodies, and it should be a fundamental, given right to have bodily autonomy and the freedom to take up space in this world without being impeded by anyone else.

The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill does not even introduce any new rights for trans people; what it does is to reduce the trauma that is associated with the process of obtaining a gender recognition certificate. It simplifies the administrative process to gain legal recognition, which has been a right for 18 years. It is such a small change, but it is a change to remove barriers, gatekeeping and that impeding that I spoke of.

The bill would demedicalise the process, which is nothing new, and move us to a system that is based on freedom, choice and respect. Personal declaration rather than medical diagnosis will bring Scotland into line with well-established systems in Norway, Denmark and Ireland, and recent reforms in Switzerland and New Zealand. In 2018, Scotland was hailed as a world leader on human rights for our inclusion for LGBTQ+ citizens and for things such as inclusive education. However, if we do not pass the bill, we will be behind the times.

It is crucial to the debate that we add the voices of trans people themselves, and I urge everyone in the chamber to reach out to the Equality Network and the Scottish Trans Alliance or, like I did when I had questions about the community, go directly to them. I asked if I could hear from those who had lived experience. I was able to connect with trans people and listen to them and their stories. Unfortunately, there were some truly harrowing accounts, which were experienced only because they were trans. I sincerely thank them for putting themselves in the position of having to relive their trauma so that they could help others.

Just before we came into the chamber, I had the opportunity to go outside and talk to some trans people. As I was leaving, I was pulled aside and thanked for listening. I was chatting to one person and, just as I was leaving, they said, “Oh, by the way, my name is Russ.” I could not believe it. I said, “My speech today has a quote from you in it.” That chance meeting really deepened my resolve to work harder for our trans siblings. I will read out the quote from Russ:

“I would feel safer with a GRC, but the current process risks re-traumatising me because of harm already inflicted by psychiatrists. When I first told a psychiatrist that I was trans as a teenager, they prescribed me electroconvulsive therapy. The harm this did meant I did not feel safe to come out again and transition until I was in my 60s. For the sake of my mental health, I can never again allow some authority figure, who doesn’t know me, to decide whether I am who I say I am.”

When we make law in this chamber, surely, the best laws are made with the lived experiences and the people that they affect at the core of the process. We know that laws that were made before women’s voices were included not only discriminated against us but were detrimental to us. We are all human and deserve rights that help us and not hinder us. Trans people are entitled to human rights. They are as valid as you and me and everyone here. They are entitled to protection, validation and support in law and to be given any opportunity to have the equal footing that we should all have without discrimination.

Will the member take an intervention?

Will the member take an intervention?

On the point about chromosomes, intersex people exist. How does that match up with what the member is saying?

For foreign crew.

It is clear that we have some very strong advocates for the industry here, and I respect that. I am just trying to marry up a few things in my mind. We are talking about a climate emergency that we are in at the moment, and we are talking about two things that are very important aspects to us as human beings: energy and food. One cannot really come before the other; we have to look at them together and not in separate silos.

In the first six months of this year, Scotland generated enough renewable energy to power Scotland twice. We are doing fantastically in that area; things are great. We have got the science going, but we still have the highest energy costs. We have only to look at food processors. Fish processors are on the brink of collapse because of electricity costs. There are a lot of things going on. We need fish—it is good, healthy food and it is sustainable.

How do we ensure that there is not always a clash between those two very important aspects? I think that it comes down to the marine planning and the science. What solutions can bring it all together? In Scotland, we have the Scottish Government, but we are restricted by a lot of what is going on in the UK Government, where we now have a new minister—I think that it is Thérèse Coffey. We need to have conversations about that across Governments and across industry. I am hearing all this and just asking the question: what is the solution? How do we gather all of that together?

Good morning. I am Karen Adam, MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast.

I want to ask about labour, too. Was there any pre-empting sense that visas were going to be an issue and was any help or support offered in that respect? Is there any support at the moment?

With Liz Truss having become Prime Minister with the backing of just 80,000 voters and now Rishi Sunak’s taking up of the post being co-ordinated by a cluster of Tory MPs, the Conservative Party’s democratic mandate is becoming more and more diluted. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the Tories have no leg to stand on when they question the Scottish Government’s cast-iron mandate to hold an independence referendum next year?