On the 17th of September 2015, the Scottish Parliament made history as the BSL (Scotland) Bill successfully passed stage 3 with unanimous agreement from every Member of Parliament. This is a huge step for BSL as it is finally recognise within law as an official language. Even more remarkable is that this momentous event occurred during BDA’s 125th anniversary.
Today, BDA Scotland invited BSL users to attend a guided tour of the Scottish Parliament and meet with Mark Griffin MSP. During the tour, we learned lots of information about the history and architecture of the Parliament and buildings with many of the attendees keen to come back and learn more. On participant commented “I want to come back for the history tour of the Parliament”.
The search for a new site for the new Parliament building began after the referendum in September 1997 in which the people of Scotland voted by almost three to one for the creation of the first Scottish Parliament in almost 300 years.
It was of great interest that the buildings of the Scottish Parliament were designed to look like the leaves with “concrete Branches covered in Grass” connecting each of the buildings. The design was created so that the building would flow into the parklands that the parliament is built within.
Access to the guided tour was provided by BSL interpreters allowing full access to the information provided with the event being so popular that one attendee commenting that they can’t wait for the next event, “When is the next tour to celebrate the BDA’s 125th Anniversary?” It was a wonderful day with all of the BSL users who participated leaving with the knowledge that their language, BSL, is protected and respected.
