A room in Glasgow, second floor. There’s a good view of West Nile Street where a man and woman are pushing cages full of multi-coloured banners and streamers up the hill. Just behind them is a guy and his girlfriend, bedecked in flags, and another young man in micro-skirt and suspenders. It’s Pride day in the city but a group of gay men, who in days-gone-by might have been at the parade themselves, have decided to come to this room instead. It’s a measure of how much things have changed.

The group is a pretty mixed bunch really: different ages, different backgrounds, different opinions, but they all have a couple of important things in common. They’re concerned about what’s going on with gay rights, they’re disturbed by the concept of gender identity and its consequences for women and gay people, and they’re downright sceptical about LGBTQIA and the shenanigans going on in the street below. The reason they’ve got together is to try and work out what needs to be done about it.

The event, a sort of mini-conference with speakers, has been organised by a group called Human Gay Male, which was established in 2024 for gay men sceptical about the concept of gender identity. The group held its first conference in London last year and the event today is a Glasgow off-shoot. Throughout the day, I sit down with some of the guys who’ve come along and talk to them about their experiences and opinions and concerns and what emerges is worrying and disturbing. But hopeful too, definitely hopeful.

The first guest speaker is Marion Calder, who co-founded For Women Scotland, one of the original campaign groups to raise concerns about the effects of gender identity on women’s rights; it’s also the group that went all the way to the Supreme Court earlier this year to establish the meaning of “woman” and won. Ms Calder describes the joy she felt as she emerged from the court and punches the air as she relives the moment. “Get it up ye Sturgeon!” she........

© Herald Scotland