A SCOTTISH Greens MSP is set to hold an LGBT+ surgery for constituents in an inclusive bookshop.
Holly Bruce, the MSP for Glasgow Southside, said she hoped to run the surgeries seasonally if they prove popular.
The first surgery will be held on Friday, June 26, at Category is Books, an independent LGBT+ bookshop on Allison Street in the Southside.
The advice surgery falls in Pride month, celebrated in June, dedicated to celebrating LGBT+ lives.
“It may be Pride month, but this is a scary time for a lot of LGBT+ people,” Bruce told The National.
“A lot of the progress that we have made is under threat and, for trans people in particular, it feels like hard-won rights are being rolled back.”
It comes as the UK Parliament is currently considering the updated Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) which bans transgender women from using female facilities, and transgender men from using male services. The code, which is still to be approved, has been condemned for leaving trans people with “less rights”, and impacting LGBT+ rights as a whole.
"A lot of people in our community are hurting and, especially as an openly Queer MSP, I want to offer a safe and inclusive space where people can feel comfortable being themselves,” Bruce added.
“There is no better place to do that than the fabulous Category Is Books, right in the heart of my constituency. It has provided a social space, a comforting ear and a home away from home for so many Southsiders.
"There is so much we need to do if we are to get Scotland back on track, including a watertight ban on conversion practices and taking on the authoritarian and cruel EHRC guidance which is already making lives harder for so many trans and gender non-conforming people.
"I'm proud to be trying something new and, if this surgery proves to be popular, I'll make them more common.
“Every LGBT+ person should feel welcome in Scotland, and MSPs have an important role to play in ensuring they do."
We told how the Scottish Government was told to “get on with” introducing a criminal ban on LGBT+ conversion practices, after it was dropped during the last parliamentary term.
