Humza Yousaf, in a tumultuous election race for leadership of the Scottish National Party pitted against socially conservative rivals Kate Forbes and Ash Regan, was elected Monday as SNP leader. He becomes the first Muslim to lead a major U.K. political party and the first Muslim to lead a European democracy.

In a vote in the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) on Tuesday, Yousaf was confirmed as Scotland’s next first minister, replacing Nicola Sturgeon. Sturgeon had resigned as the SNP leader and Scotland’s first minister last month, setting off a close contest within the party to succeed her. 

Her decision was tied to two key political challenges: The future of the independence campaign and changes to Scotland’s gender recognition laws. In January Sturgeon castigated the conservative government of U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for blocking the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from being signed into law by King Charles III.

The Gender Recognition Reform bill introduced by the Scottish government in Holyrood last spring was passed in a final 86-39 vote days before this past Christmas. The sweeping reform bill modifies the Gender Recognition Act, signed into law in 2004, by allowing transgender Scots to gain legal recognition without the need for a medical diagnosis.

The measure further stipulates that age limit for legal recognition is lowered to 16.

The Guardian noted the most pressing question is how a change of leadership affects the Scottish government’s plans to contest the U.K.’s decision to block the bill, which it did using section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998, described by sources as “the nuclear option.” Scottish ministers have three months from the date the section 35 order was laid — Jan. 16 — to contest it.

PinkNewsUK reported that Yousaf had received a tidal wave of support and well wishes after his victory was announced. SNP MP John Nicolson said that Yousaf led a “positive and bold campaign.”

“Humza knows that young voters love our party’s vision of a liberal, progressive, egalitarian independent Scotland,” Nicolson said. “His campaign promised a progressive agenda of fair taxation, defending LGBT+ rights from Westminster attack, and support for the vulnerable at home and abroad.”

Speaking to PinkNews, Nicolson added: “I think young people want a Scotland which is socially progressive and liberal. And for young people, independence isn’t about a face, but it’s about the kind of country that they imagine independent Scotland could be — a progressive country — and Humza very deliberately tapped into that in the course of the election campaign and made it very clear what his views were and championed that.”

During the campaign Yousaf had promised voters, “If elected Scottish National Party (SNP) leader and Scotland’s next first minister, I’ll build on our track record of promoting and protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ people by: (1) banning conversion practices and (2)  embedding LGBTQ+ rights in an independent Scotland’s constitution.”

Lots of 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ LGBT+ people are breathing a collective sigh of relief with @HumzaYousaf on track to be Scotland’s sixth First Minister. The fact we came 𝘀𝗼 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 close to the alternative ought not to be forgotten. We all need to be involved in writing Scotland’s next chapter.

— Rob McDowall AMRSPH FRSA (@robmcd85) March 27, 2023

Scotland chose to reject transphobia and anti abortion religious fundamentalism. 👏❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏳️‍🌈 https://t.co/tPW8QHwIYj

— Esme (@discount_Ripley) March 27, 2023

A political commentator and SNP source told the Washington Blade on Monday they are “happy with the result and motivated by what is to come. Humza has secured the continuation of a progressive agenda. I think he will be more popular as he becomes more well-known.”

The Tory government of U.K. Prime Minster Rishi Sunak will block any effort by the government of Wales to push forward plans to reform gender-recognition laws that would allow transgender Welsh to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate without a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, a government spokesperson told Britain’s leading LGBTQ news outlet.

In a statement to PinkNewsUK, a spokesperson from the Equalities Office told the LGBTQ+ news outlet the Tory-led government wants to ensure that “LGBT people are treated equally” but would not budge on permitting devolved reform of the GRA (Gender Recognition Act) in Wales.

On Tuesday, the Welsh government (Llywodraeth Cymru) in Cardiff announced that it had launched its LGBTQ+ Action Plan for Wales. Deputy Social Partnership Minister Hannah Blythyn said that Wales’ plan aims to improve the rights of LGBTQ people such as banning all aspects of so-called conversion therapy practice. She did acknowledge that but currently the Welsh Parliament (Senedd Cymru) cannot make its own gender recognition laws.

Today, we published our LGBTQ+ action plan🏳️‍🌈

As part of the #CooperationAgreement with @Plaid_Cymru, @WelshGovernment sets out to improve equality and inclusion for all LGBTQ+ people in Wales.

Find out more here👉https://t.co/OXCIeREeJu. pic.twitter.com/791nqqb9Wy

— Welsh Government Communities (@WG_Communities) February 7, 2023

The plans for improvement of the Gender Recognition Act to affect trans Welsh that has the backing of the Senedd Cymru is based on similar legislation put forward and by the Scottish Parliament.

Four weeks ago the conservative U.K. government in Westminster blocked the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from being signed into law by King Charles III.

The Gender Recognition Reform bill introduced by the Scottish government in Parliament (Holywood) last spring was passed in a final 86-39 vote days before this past Christmas. The sweeping reform bill modifies the Gender Recognition Act, signed into law in 2004, by allowing trans Scots to gain legal recognition without the need for a medical diagnosis.

The measure further stipulates that age limit for legal recognition is lowered to 16.

There are those in and out of government in Britain and Wales claiming that reform would mean a safety issue for women and children.

“Ensuring that LGBT people are treated equally is a priority for this government. In recent months, we have committed to an inclusive ban on conversion practices, and we are taking steps to improve health care and eliminate new transmissions of HIV by 2030,” an Equalities Office spokesperson told PinkNews.

“We share the concerns that others have set out with proposed reforms to the GRC application process, particularly around safety issues for women and children.

“As a result of this, there are no plans to reform the Gender Recognition Act in England or Wales.”

Having a GRC allows trans people to update their birth certificate, get married or form a civil partnership in their affirmed gender, update their marriage or civil partnership certificate, and have their affirmed gender on their death certificate.

Alice Litman was a high school junior when she told her family she wanted to live as a woman. Barely for years later at age 20 she died by suicide. According to her parents Peter and Caroline Litman, she died partly because of the inaccessibility of gender-affirming healthcare in the U.K. 

The BBC reported that an inquest is to be held into the death of Litman, who died by suicide while on a National Health Service waiting list for almost three years for gender-affirming healthcare. She had been referred to the NHS Gender Identity Development Service in August 2019, but was still waiting for an initial assessment when she died by suicide at the age of 20.

BBC News reported that the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, where the gender-identity clinic is based, as saying it was “deeply saddened” by Litman’s death but it was “not appropriate to comment while the inquest is ongoing.”

The clinic’s website, which currently only shows data from the same month that Litman died, reveals the waiting list to be 11,407 people long.

Assistant coroner Sarah Clarke will examine issues relating to her death in the coroner’s inquest due to take place this upcoming September.

Peter and Caroline Litman hope lessons will be learned from their daughter’s death the couple told the BBC. They said in a statement: “We believe that Alice died partly because of the inaccessibility of gender-affirming healthcare in the U.K.”

“We want the inquest to examine this to ensure we can get justice for Alice, and change for all the trans people who are facing the same issues.”

“It’s not just Alice. It’s too late for her. There are lots of other young transgender people out there and they need our help.”

Last month PinkNewsUK journalist Patrick Kelleher reported LGBTQ people already face disproportionately worse healthcare outcomes in the U.K. — and that’s without an NHS in crisis.

The crisis is a dangerous threat to everybody who relies on free healthcare, reports PinkNewsUK.

For LGBTQ people specifically, it’s compounded by existing barriers — the NHS has acknowledged that outcomes are disproportionately poor for the queer community.

In the government’s 2017 National LGBT Survey, 16 percent of LGBTQ people said they had a negative experience when accessing public health services because of their sexual orientation, while 38 percent had a bad experience on the basis of their gender identity. More than half (51 percent) faced waits for mental health care, while years-long waiting lists for gender-affirming care are well-documented.

Cleo Madeleine, communications officer for trans charity Gendered Intelligence, told PinkNewsUK:

“LGBT+ people already have worse access to healthcare than the general population, with both physical and mental health outcomes falling across the board. Some of this stems from a lack of education on LGBT+ people or an excess of stigma around specific needs like sexual health and gender identity services.

“Elsewhere we find that LGBT+ people — as many as 25 percent — avoid seeking necessary care because they fear reprisal, or because they have been denied healthcare because of their identity before.”