Fury as under-fire Nicola Sturgeon accuses gender reform critics of ‘homophobia and racism’ in ‘desperate attack’ to shore up her popularity after trans rapist debacle
- Nicola Sturgeon branded critics of her bill ‘misogynistic, homophobic and racist’
- She was accused of using ‘baseless’ attacks instead of engaging with opponents
Nicola Sturgeon has been condemned for a ‘disgusting and desperate’ attack on her gender reform critics after she called them homophobic and racist.
The First Minister claimed some politicians have used the issue of women’s rights as a ‘cloak’ to cover up their transphobia and claimed they are also misogynistic, often homophobic and sometimes racist.
Opponents accused her of using ‘baseless’ attacks rather than engaging with those who oppose her Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.
The legislation removes the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria when applying for a gender recognition certificate, drops the minimum age for applications to 16 and reduces the time someone needs to live in an acquired gender first to three months for over-18s.
Nicola Sturgeon (pictured on The News Agents podcast yesterday) has been condemned for a ‘disgusting and desperate’ attack on her gender reform critics after she called them homophobic and racist
Miss Sturgeon made the remarks after a ‘screeching U-turn’ as she finally acted to ensure Isla Bryson, (pictured) who raped two women while living as a man, would be moved out of all-female Cornton Vale prison
Speaking to The News Agents podcast on the Global Player site, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘I’ve heard people, politicians, claiming to be defenders of women’s rights who I’d never heard defend women’s rights in the past.
‘In fact, I’ve heard some support policies… that run counter to women’s rights. We have legislation looming later in this parliament on criminal justice reform to try to deal with issues of low conviction rates for rape and sexual assault.
‘We’re likely to be dealing with legislation in months to come around abortion buffer zones.
‘And I think it will be interesting to see how many of the so-called defenders of women’s rights in the context of the trans debate suddenly don’t think that all women’s rights are actually important.
‘And there are some people that I think have decided to use women’s rights as a sort of cloak of acceptability to cover up what is transphobia. Now, again, that’s not everybody who opposes this Bill, I want to be very clear about that.
‘But there are people who’ve have opposed this Bill that cloak themselves in women’s rights to make it acceptable. But just as they’re transphobic you’ll also find they are deeply misogynist, often homophobic, possibly some of them racist as well.’
Bryson, previously known as Adam Graham (pictured), was convicted this week of raping two women in 2016 and 2019 following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow
The scene at HMP Edinburgh Thursday night where Bryson arrived in time for dinner
Miss Sturgeon made the remarks after a ‘screeching U-turn’ as she finally acted to ensure Isla Bryson, who raped two women while living as a man, would be moved out of all-female Cornton Vale prison.
Tory equalities spokesman Rachael Hamilton said: ‘These are disgusting and desperate claims from Nicola Sturgeon.’
She added: ‘Instead of engaging with the criticism and admitting she was wrong, she’d rather launch baseless attacks at those who disagree.’
Author JK Rowling branded Miss Sturgeon Orwellian.
On social media, she said: ‘Never forget, Sturgeon, her government and supporters have insisted it is ludicrous to imagine anyone would dress in women’s clothes to get access to vulnerable women and girls. Wouldn’t happen. Everyone is who they say they are. To question this is hate.’
She quoted George Orwell’s 1984: ‘The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.’
The UK Government is making a section 35 order preventing the gender reform Bill from gaining Royal Assent because of concerns over its impact on reserved equalities law.
In the interview with host Lewis Goodall, Miss Sturgeon also claimed Labour under Sir Keir Starmer would be a ‘pale imitation’ of a Conservative government.
She said he will be ‘biting the hand off’ the SNP leader to do a deal in the event of a hung parliament.
On LBC, Sir Keir advised her to ‘roll up her sleeves and concentrate on the health service in Scotland’ and an education system ‘on its knees’.
He added: ‘I think Nicola Sturgeon may want to spend a bit of time fixing some of the problems that are actually under her control in Scotland.’
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