THE “horrific” debate around trans rights is like homophobic campaigns from the 1980s, the Scottish Greens co-leader has said.

Patrick Harvie compared the media coverage of the controversy surrounding plans to make it easier for trans people to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) to that of the “right-wing” press who “egged on” anti-gay campaigners in the 1980s and 1990s.

Harvie – who is bisexual – recalled going to university in Manchester in the 1990s and the menacing figure of homophobic top cop James Anderton.

READ MORE: What will Scotland's Gender Recognition Act Bill contain, and what does it all mean?

He told Holyrood Magazine: “When I was a student, James Anderton was still the chief constable of Greater Manchester – he was ‘God’s cop’ who would send in squads of police in biohazard gear to raid gay clubs and was eagerly egged on by the right-wing media.

“The kind of stuff we’re seeing now is reminiscent of that.

“It’s reminiscent of the worst of the homophobic coverage that I remember seeing when I was growing up in the 1980s and when I was a student in the 1990s.

“And it’s now being directed at a much smaller and more marginalised group – trans people.”

During the 1980s, LGBT activists railed against Section 28 which outlawed the “promotion” of homosexuality by local authorities across the UK.

Harvie told the magazine he would walk past advertisements for homophobic campaign groups bearing the slogan “Protect Our Children".

“It meant protect children from people like me,” he said.

“What we now see as a result of the anti-trans movement is a far greater level of that kind of smear tactic.

READ MORE: All political debates should be respectful and free from abusive comments

“I’ve seen allegations coming out of the anti-trans movement of people being complicit with paedophilia that are reminiscent of the QAnon stuff [the US conspiracy theory].”

BBC polling recently showed most Scots backed reform to the Gender Recognition Act – which would make it easier for people to get legal recognition of the gender they live as.

Some 57% of Scots backed changing the law – which critics say will make it harder to run women-only spaces.

Harvie told the magazine: “The BBC’s polling is not the first to show there is broad public support for what is being proposed and that it’s stronger with younger people and women.

“The way this is being manipulated and turned into a right-wing culture war from those who want to punch down from powerful positions is truly grotesque.” 

He also said that while he was “sure there are people who have sincere questions” about trans rights, he was concerned people were ignoring the answers.

And there are politicians and commentators “quite clearly cultivating false fears around this”.

READ MORE: Scotland's trans communities hope for reform as GRA Bill to be laid in Parliament this week

Asked about whether he would ever welcome back former Greens MSP Andy Wightman who left the party after accusing it of creating a culture of “intolerance” around trans rights, Harvie said: “If he reflected on his views and realised he’d got some stuff wrong and wanted to have a conversation about that, I suspect there are people in the party who would listen.”  

He added: “I regret very much the way his thinking went on those issues and that he appeared to be falling down a rabbit hole.

“I regret that many people have gone in that direction.”