Since becoming an MSP, I have always been clear about the importance of ensuring a balanced, careful approach is taken when it comes to changing the law.

But when it comes to the Scottish Government’s Gender Recognition Bill that was debated in Parliament last month, careful and balanced are not words I would use to describe it. It is for this reason that I chose to vote against the Bill when it was debated at Stage 1, in which all Scottish Conservative MSPs were given a free vote.

This Bill would change the process for legally changing your gender by removing the requirement to have a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria before you can apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate. It would also lower the minimum age for changing your gender from 18 to 16, and would shorten the length of time a trans person must live in their acquired gender from two years to just three months.

It is vital that any changes to the law in this area strike the right balance between the rights of trans people and the safety of women and girls, and as a Member of the Scottish Parliament’s equalities, human rights and civil justice committee, I have scrutinised this Bill very carefully. But as it stands, I am not convinced that the Bill achieves this balance.

For example, many concerns have been raised that women’s single sex spaces and services, such as public toilets and changing rooms, may be put at risk by making it easier to legally change your gender, as it would be easier for bad-faith actors to access these spaces.

There are also many unanswered questions about the potential confusion between gender and biological sex that the Bill creates, and how this will affect how things such as the gender pay gap are measured.

So far these concerns, and many more besides, have been raised with the Scottish Government to no avail. Instead of listening, the SNP Government has chosen to push this through Parliament without even allowing its MSPs a free vote. Even outside Parliament, the debate on this issue has been nothing short of toxic, with any criticism of this Bill being instantly labelled as ‘transphobic’.

But I will not be shouted down on this issue. Along with many of my colleagues, I will be pushing hard to improve this Bill as it continues its passage through Parliament in the coming weeks. There is still the opportunity to amend the Bill to minimise its impact on women of faith, and women and girls more broadly, and I will continue to work constructively to do precisely this.

Pam Gosal (MSP, West Scotland)