EDINBURGH – Scottish nationalists have never had a better chance of achieving their centuries-long dream of independence. The Brexit that Scottish voters never wanted is proving to be just as dire as predicted, the silly and painful English Prime Minister Boris Johnson working his way through an eternal bastard, and the last 20 polls have shown the pro-independence side in the lead. .
But like anyone with even one Brave heartlevel of knowledge of national history, Scots have a long-held tendency to take defeat from the jaws of victory. And right now, Scottish nationalists who have worked their whole lives towards this moment are letting it all go to hell – after a furious and destructive row over transgender rights that has seen lawmakers burst into tears at meetings.
Britain’s ongoing problem with transphobia, which comes from both the political left and the right, is well documented.
Scotland, where political leaders pride themselves on appearing more outward-looking and progressive than their southern Brexit counterparts, has not escaped being sucked into the same brain-rotting vortex. In fact, it’s home to the most famous culture warrior of the issue, JK Rowling, who was denied by nearly every child actor from ever appearing in Hogwarts for her anti-trans tweets.
The problem has now engulfed the center-left Scottish National Party, which leads the decentralized Scottish government and has been the driving force behind the movement to split from Britain since the 1930s. Last week, things got so bad that Scotland’s leader and prime minister, Nicola Sturgeon, had to post a video begging young LGBTQ + members of her party not to cut their membership cards en masse because of the anti-trans stances of some of the senior members of her party.
In the video, Sturgeon said she was told that “mostly young people, in large numbers, were leaving the SNP” because they no longer thought it was a safe place for transgender people. The prime minister said it was “grieving [her] deep ” that those younger members had come to that devastating conclusion, and she promised to ‘do everything’ [she] can change that impression and convince all of you that the SNP is your party. “
Sturgeon added, “Transgender people have just as much right as we do to be safe and appreciated for who they are. Transphobia is wrong and we should treat it with the zero tolerance we treat against racism or homophobia. “
The message was welcomed, but for most who stopped, it was nowhere near enough to bring them back. Their decisions came after what they saw as several years of gradually increasing tolerance for – and lack of action against – toxic anti-trans positions throughout the party.
One of the now former members, Teddy Hope, who uses the pronouns she / she told The Daily Beast that they quit last year as trans officer for the SNP’s LGBTQ + division after being abused by party members at a rally because they are non-binary. Hope said one of their abusers was later singled out for an important official role, and the party did not act on their complaints about that person.
“I sincerely believe that the SNP has become one of the major hubs of transphobia in Scotland,” explains Hope. “We see a process of radicalization taking place within our movement. Those who oppose the human rights of transgender people are few in number, but they have a major impact on party politics and our media, which is very worrying. “
Mridul Wadhwa, a trans woman of color who also recently felt compelled to leave the party, told The Daily Beast that she was repeatedly attacked as she tried to stand up for senior positions in the party. She said the problem was worst when her eligibility to be on a women-only list was angrily questioned by party members.
“I expect transphobia everywhere I go, but this is a failure of leadership,” said Wadhwa. “I don’t think there are huge numbers of people, but there are plenty of people of power and privilege who have debated trans lives without involving or understanding our lives. I’ve come to believe that they have no legitimate concerns, that they are genocidal in their views because they really don’t want us to exist. “
The breaking point for many came when a prominent SNP Member of Parliament, Joanna Cherry, expressed her support for Sarah Phillimore – a lawyer and feminist activist whose Twitter account was suspended last month after she was accused of hateful conduct. Cherry’s support led to a torrent of resignations from the SNP. Phillimore denies having ever tweeted anything transphobic, but on a crowdfunding page for her defamation cases, admitted that she may have misused transgender people.
Jack Boag, who was an LGBT + officer in the party’s student department, said he decided to quit shortly after Cherry’s tweets. He told The Daily Beast that he initially ran into anti-trans views in a “ vocal minority hiding behind Twitter accounts, ” but then saw some of those people getting promoted in the party and realized the SNP- leadership ‘willing to calm them in the name of party unity. “
Days after Sturgeon posted her video, Cherry was fired from her prominent position in the party, but she remains a member and has been referred to by some as a future party leader in the past. In a written statement, Cherry told The Daily Beast that she was told a “very large number” of SNP members had quit because of her resignation, but did not comment on those who said they quit because of her tweets.
Cherry added: “I don’t know anyone in the SNP who wants to undermine the rights of transgender people. As a lesbian, feminist and veteran in the fight for equality, I believe everyone deserves equal protection under the law and I am very proud that in Scotland we have very good rights-based protection for transgender people. “
Cherry said she has “raised legitimate concerns” about gender recognition legislation, saying it is “worrying that it is difficult to express a position in this area without being labeled a transphobic.”
Cherry’s fellow SNP lawmakers, who asked to remain anonymous so they could speak freely on the matter, told The Daily Beast that the events of recent weeks have revealed a split in the SNP – and thus the independence movement. On the one hand, there is the vocal trans-ally Sturgeon who has always taken a cautious approach to independence.
On the other hand, there is Cherry, who remains close to former SNP leader Alex Salmond, who was acquitted last year on a string of charges in a sexual assault trial that he now claims was a witch hunt organized by the current one. leader Sturgeon. Simply put, SNP insiders say these two factions have broadly fallen on opposite sides of a toxic transgender culture war, creating the rift that has now spread in public opinion.
An ally of a Sturgeon said: “[Salmond supporters] seemed to ride it like a Trojan horse. Salmond will never be a leader and it seems he has a small group that wants independence at all costs [and] use it to cause division in the party and unrest in Sturgeon’s leadership. “
When asked about the break, an SNP lawmaker told The Daily Beast, “It’s all one person – Joanna.” The lawmaker alleged that a colleague burst into tears during an online group meeting when the discussion about transgender rights turned volatile last week.
On the other hand, Cherry is also feeling shockwaves from the division – a man was reportedly charged last Thursday in connection with alleged threats against the SNP politician on the day of her resignation. She publicly blamed her colleagues for spreading “lies” about her, and accused her party leaders in a column on Friday of “masterful Stalinist revisionism” when they fired her.
The SNP now looks most divided at the exact moment when the stars are finally aligned for a majority of voters to support their lifelong cause. And since young people are routinely the demographic age group that most supports independence, it’s one they can’t afford to lose – but the people who are likely to run from the stench of transphobia.
The divisions are likely to deepen as the Scottish government continues to plan to support gender recognition reforms to make it easier for people to change their legal gender. The SNP could enter an election in May, and then a promised second independence referendum in the coming years, tearing itself to pieces.
“Anytime the party comes up with a conversation, even with those who aren’t immediately interested in politics, they automatically associate it with transphobia,” said former party transformer Hope. “Radical change is needed to make transgender people feel safe and to campaign for their rights in the party. Until that happens, it will continue to lose the faith and support of its youth department, until a generation of its activists is completely lost. “
Wadhwa, one of the trans members who left the party, said she would still vote for Scottish independence if given the chance, but she warned that if the SNP is “ serious about building a fairer, independent country ‘, a’ no tolerance ‘approach to any form of intolerance is what is needed – be it transphobia or any other bias. “
She added, “The party is a long way off.”