Gay actor promises nudes to all those who take part in Scottish gender recognition reform consultation

David Paisley

Scottish actor David Paisley launched his #Thirst4Equality campaign to encourage followers to take part in Scotland’s gender recognition reform consultation.

The River City and former Holby star took to Twitter on Thursday, March 12, urging followers to support trans rights by completing the Scottish government’s GRA reform consultation.

“It’s open to all, even if you’re not from Scotland,” he said.

“For every one of my followers that submits a response, DM me proof and I’ll DM you a nude.”

Immediately, Paisley was inundated with screenshots of completed consultation forms (it takes just minutes to fill out).

The actor – who regularly uses Twitter to campaign for trans rights – took the time to confirm that the nudes in question would be his own, and extended the offer until March 17, the day the consultation closes, due to his inbox being “full to the brim”.

Replying to a comment from the Scottish pro-trans feminist group Sisters Scotland, which said it “will pass on the nudes”, Paisley added: “Nothing worse than unsolicited nudes! No one wants to see that!

“Nudes are optional. Equality shouldn’t be!”

Scotland’s gender reform consultation closes on March 17.

The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill consultation asks people to respond to five key points.

You don’t have to live in Scotland or be Scottish to give your opinions, nor do you have to be trans.

In fact, Stonewall Scotland has said that it is critical that the voices of trans allies are heard and counted in this process.

Stonewall and other groups want to see the law reformed so that trans people in Scotland can obtain a gender recognition certificate (GRC) more easily and with less bureaucracy.

Proposed reforms would give trans people the right to self-identify their gender (ie without first seeking the approval of a medical doctor) and would lower the minimum age a person could obtain a GRC from 18 to 16.

A draft bill published in December 2019 would reduce the period of time it takes to gain legal recognition from two years to six months, however Stonewall would like to see this wait time abolished completely.

It would also like to see recognition for non-binary people, who are excluded from both the current process and the proposed reforms.

There is space to comment upon all of these topics in the consultation.

You can help achieve greater trans equality by completing it here. To help, PinkNews has published a guide on how to respond to each question.