Transient Language and Law
You can read article here on my blog: https://bit.ly/2ThnSkA 
or use the (thread) below:

Before I start I should say that I am not a lawyer, but I often read the dictionary for fun growing up, so words matter to me.
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Their definitions are important and allow us to communicate clearly because we have an agreed, referenced, definition of what words mean. As children we are taught the agreed labels (words) to define things. However, when those definitions are fluid; non-exhaustive;
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disputed; or re-interpreted for one particular group, then it becomes impossible to enact good, robust and clear laws.

With the advent of the internet, physical dictionaries, thesauri (or thesauruses) and encyclopedias are becoming a rarity.
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However, when you say something in the morning and the internet definition is updated by teatime to define what you said as offensive, then we are entering very dangerous territory. Indeed, many definitions are being updated without the consent of people that most use them:
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e.g. Mirriam-Webster's top definition of homosexual is that it is now considered to be a disparaging term.

Sub-cultures have always had fluid definitions with early adopters bemoaning that it has lost its way since becoming popular or mainstream.
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Now this is not normally an issue because those cultures do not normally demand equality law and thousand year old language be re-written on their behalf.

Nowhere is this more apparent than with the 'trans' culture and their 17 (so far) sub-categories and definitions which
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are not understood by most people out of the sub-culture and are not readily agreed upon by those in the trans community. Some terms widely accepted in society are deemed offensive depending on the individual you are talking too.
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Without clear and agreed definitions we are in the perverse situation of people using mutually exclusive 'preferred' definitions of words which may not have been the definition of the word when laws were written.

Having read the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Act five
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or more times it is shocking in that nothing important is actually clearly defined (specifically the words woman and trans. Whilst an attempt is made to define 'living as the acquired gender', this is as nebulous a definition as fairy dust.)
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By using umbrella terms like 'trans' the definition can be defined outside the scope of the law and can therefore be interpreted differently on a case by case basis when the law is applied. The danger being that when new trans categories are created,
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they will automatically be included without due consideration. (The law of unintended consequences.)

The purpose of the law is to define what is proscribed in a civilised society in terms of what you cannot do and in what you have a right to do.
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For example why should a non-binary man with no intention of transitioning from or to anything be allowed to play in female sports even though they identify as 'trans'?
To create law that both lawyers and normal people can understand, terms must be more or less static or
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at minimum defined in the legislation when it is written. If the term changes in the sub-culture, then statutory instruments can be used to modify the law, but the subject of given laws, should not have a rolling definition from the lobby groups advocating the law change.
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Instead, I would suggest that the law must define exactly how it does or does not apply to each individual trans category, with those currently being:
*) transgender
*) transsexual
*) gender-queer
*) gender-fluid
*) non-binary
*) gender-variant
*) crossdresser
*) genderless
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*) agender
*) nongender
*) third gender
*) bi-gender
*) trans man
*) trans woman
*) trans masculine
*) trans feminine
*) neutrois

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Lack of clarity in law can only lead to confusion and expensive law-suits. If all sides in this 'discussion' of rights have clear definitions for what words mean in law, then would help to avoid confusion.
/ends
ASIDE: (1 more)
Put this thread on my blog which is easier to read if you are on tablet or laptop, but threads I feel work better on mobile. Also tried to break tweets on sentences if possible which means more tweets, but maybe clearer?
Thoughts always welcome!
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