The United Kingdom has taken action to stop a Scottish measure from being implemented that would determine how people officially alter their designated gender in Scotland.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said Monday that the U.K. government was going to prohibit the passage of the Scottish legislation.

In an oral statement to parliament published Tuesday, Jack pointed out that the bill would create a new way for someone to apply for “legal gender recognition in Scotland.” It would lower the minimum age a person can apply to get a Gender Recognition Certificate and take away the necessity to get diagnosed medically, as well as the proof that the person has lived “for two years in their acquired gender.”

Jack said he was creating an order “under section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 preventing the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from proceeding to Royal Assent.”

He said the government “believes however that transgender people deserve our respect, our support and our understanding,” but his choice to make the order “is centred [sic] on the legislation’s consequences for the operation of reserved matters, including equality legislation across Scotland, England and Wales.”

When putting forward the new potential guidelines, the Scottish government said, “We think that trans people should not have to go through a process that can be demeaning, intrusive, distressing and stressful in order to be legally recognized in their lived gender.”

Jack said that the bill would “have a serious adverse impact, among other things, on the operation of the Equality Act 2010.” The negative aspects, he said, involve how single-sex clubs, schools, and groups work, as well as safeguards like equal pay.

He also said that the government has the same concerns as many other people and organizations over the possible effect of the legislation on women and girls.

Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has noted there were “no grounds” for the U.K. government to not allow it to go through, making the argument that it didn’t impact the Equality Act.

Sturgeon told the BBC that Jack was carrying out a “profound mistake” and claimed that he is starting a “direct attack on the institution of the Scottish Parliament.” Sturgeon noted that this would “inevitably end up in court” and that the government of Scotland would “vigorously defend this legislation.”

“In doing so we will be vigorously defending something else, and that is the institution of the Scottish Parliament and the ability of MSPs, democratically elected, to legislate in areas of our competence,” Sturgeon said. “In short, we’ll be defending Scottish democracy.”

The U.K. government has not taken this step ever before since the Scottish Parliament started in 1999.

The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is hosting a youth sports event for “girlx.”

The city announced that it would host the free event for elementary school children from kindergarten through 5th grade on Wednesday. The event is open to “girlx” who want to get involved in local sports. The city defines the world “girlx” as all who identify “as a girl or with girlhood,” in the same vein as other gender-inclusive neologisms like “womxn” and “Latinx.”

“Did you know that girlx who play sports are more likely to have better grades, high levels of confidence, and develop the critical skills necessary for success in the work place?” Cambridge posted in an announcement for the event last week. “The fun, free event is for families with girlx (anyone who identifies as a girl or with girlhood) in Kindergarten through 5th grade. It’s an opportunity for girlx to explore new sports, learn about existing teams, and enjoy prizes, pizza, games, and hands-on demonstrations.”

The event is scheduled for Wednesday at the War Memorial field house, a rec center near the campus of Harvard University. It is sponsored by Cambridge Commission on the Status of Women, the Office of the Mayor, and the Department of Human Services Programs.

A flyer for the event lists some of the sports available for “girlx” to try. They include basketball, cheerleading, football, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and softball, among others. A tweet from the city also states that “all participating girlx will receive one free swim pass to the War Memorial pool.”

Girls (K – 5th grade) and their families are invited to learn about local teams and explore new sports. Attend Cambridge Sports Night for Girlx on January 18, from 5:30-7 PM at the War Memorial Field House to learn more- https://t.co/T1tIWfxUdf #CambMA pic.twitter.com/Cp05rT0KvX

— City of Cambridge (@CambMA) January 11, 2023

Conservatives knocked the announcement, blasting the city for using “girlx” and comparing it to other constructed words like “Latinx.”

“2020: ‘Latinx’ 2023: ‘GIRLX,’” Christina Pushaw, press secretary for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, mocked on Twitter.

“‘Girlx’ instead of ‘girls,’ because ‘Latinx’ worked so well,” podcaster Carl Benjamin added.

“There’s no such thing as girlx,” The Post Milennial editor-in-chief Libby Emmons said. “And what does it mean to ‘identify with girlhood’?”

“Girlx meanz its also for boyx,” one user wrote.

“Girlx* night, how fun,” one user account associated with the activist group Children’s Health Rights of Massachusetts tweeted. “The cult leaders have taken over. This is despicable and insulting to girls’ sports.

On Monday, The Daily Wire reported that middle school students at the Twality Middle School near Portland, Oregon, were allowed to skip class in order to watch a TV show about a 12-year-old boy who identifies as a girl. The school held a “watch party” for the show, entitled “First Day.” The drama series premiered in Australia in 2020, and tells the story of the transgender preteen who “not only has to navigate the challenges that come with starting a new school, but find the courage to live as her most authentic self,” the show’s IMDb page reads.

The TV-watching session happened during the middle school’s “Transgender Awareness Week” held from November 13 to 19. Students skipped their last two class periods that Friday to watch the show’s first two episodes.

The school will eventually play the entire series, Twality said in one of several PowerPoint presentations shown to students, according to a public records request viewed by The Daily Wire.

Mairead Elordi contributed to this report.