EDINBURGH – Scottish nationalists have never had a better chance of achieving their centuries-old dream of securing independence. The Brexit that Scottish voters never wanted turns out to be as terrible as predicted, British and painful Prime Minister Boris Johnson is making his way through eternal merriment, and the last 20 polls opinion showed the pro-independence party in the lead.
But, like everyone has even one Brave Heart-the name of knowing its national history knows, the Scots have a long tendency to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And, right now, Scottish nationalists who have spent their entire lives working at the moment are letting everything go to hell – over an angry and destructive line over transgender rights that has seen MPs burst into tears at meetings.
Britain’s persistent problem with transphobia, which comes from both the political left and its right, has been well documented.
Scotland, where political leaders are proud to appear more outward-looking and progressive than their southern Brexit counterparts, has not escaped being sucked into the same rotting vortex of the brain. In fact, it hosts the most famous warrior of culture, JK Rowling, who has been disavowed by almost every child actor to ever appear in Hogwarts for his anti-trans tweets.
The issue has now defeated the center-left Scottish National Party, which leads the ousted Scottish government, and has been the driving force behind the movement, which has split from Britain since the 1930s. Last week, things got so bad that its leader and Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon had to post a video urging young LGBTQ + members of her party to stop cutting membership cards en masse because of anti-trans views held by some of her party’s senior members.
In the video, Sturgeon said he was told about “mostly young, significant numbers leaving the SNP,” because they no longer thought it was a safe place for transgender people. The prime minister said he was “saddened [her] deeply ”that those younger members came to that miserable conclusion and she pledged to do“ everything [she] maybe to change that impression and convince you all that the SNP is your party. ”
Sturgeon added: “Trans people have just as much right for any of us to be safe, secure and appreciated for who we are. Transphobia is wrong and we must treat it with zero tolerance for racism or homophobia. “
The message was welcome, but for most who gave up, it was far from enough to convince them back. Their decisions came after what they saw as a few years of gradually increasing tolerance – and inaction against – anti-trans toxic views throughout the game.
One of the former members, Teddy Hope, who uses the pronoun that he / she told The Daily Beast that he resigned as a trans officer for the LGBTQ + wing of the SNP last year after being abused by party members at a meeting because they were not binary. Hope said one of the assailants was later chosen for a major official role, and the party failed to act on their complaints about that person.
“I honestly think the SNP has become one of the central centers of transphobia in Scotland,” Hope explained. “We see a process of radicalization in our movement. Those who oppose the human rights of trans people are few in number, but they have a great influence on our party policy and the press, which is deeply worrying ”.
Mr Wadhwa, a trans woman of color who also felt compelled to give up the party recently, told The Daily Beast that she was repeatedly attacked when she tried to run for more senior positions in the party. She said the problem was at its worst when her eligibility to run on a women-only list of candidates was questioned by party members.
“I expect transphobia wherever I go, but this is a leadership failure,” Wadhwa said. “I don’t think there are a large number of people, but there are enough people with power and privileges who have debated trans lives without involving us or understanding our lives. I have come to believe that they have no legitimate concern, they are genocidal in their views, because they do not really want to exist. ”
The breaking point for many came when a prominent SNP MP, Joanna Cherry, he expressed his support for Sarah Phillimore – a barista and feminist activist whose Twitter account was suspended last month after she was accused of misconduct. Cherry’s support led to a flood of SNP resignations. Phillimore denies ever posting something transphobic on Twitter, but on a crowdfunding page for his defamation cases, he acknowledged that he may have had transgender trans people.
Jack Boag, who was an LGBT + officer in the party’s student wing, said he decided to give up shortly after Cherry’s tweets. He told The Daily Beast that he initially came across anti-trans views in a “vocal minority hiding behind Twitter accounts,” but then saw that some of those people were promoted in the party and realized that the SNP leadership “was willing to appease them on behalf of the party unit. ”
A few days after Sturgeon posted his video, Cherry was fired from her prominent position in the party, but remains a member and has been mentioned by some as the party’s future leader. In a written statement, Cherry told The Daily Beast that she was told that a “very large number” of SNP members had given up her dismissal, but did not comment on those who said they had given up her tweets. .
Cherry added: “I am not aware of anyone in the SNP who wants to undermine the rights of trans people. As a lesbian, feminist and equality veteran, I believe that everyone deserves equal protection under the law and I am very proud that in Scotland we have very good rights-based protections for trans people. ”
Cherry said she had “raised legitimate concerns” about the gender recognition law and said it was “worrying that it is difficult to express a point of view in this area without being labeled as transphobic.”
Cherry’s SNP parliamentary colleagues, who have asked to remain anonymous in order to speak freely, told The Daily Beast that events in recent weeks have revealed a factional split in the SNP – and therefore in the independence movement. On the one hand, there is the transalial vocal 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 of a series of sexual assault charges that she now claims was a witch hunt orchestrated by the current leader Sturgeon. More simply, SNP insiders say that these two factions have fallen on both sides of a toxic war of transgender culture, causing the rupture that has now spilled over into public view.
An ally of the Sturgeon said: “[Salmond supporters] he seemed to be riding like a Trojan horse. Salmond will never be a leader and it seems that he has a small group of those who want independence at any cost [and] they use it to provoke a division in the party and unrest in Sturgeon’s leadership. ”
Asked about the fracture, an SNP MP told The Daily Beast: “Everything is one person – Joanna.” The parliamentarian claimed that a colleague burst into tears in an online group meeting, when the argument about transgender rights became volatile last week.
On the other hand, Cherry also feels the shock waves of the division – on Thursday, a man was allegedly accused in connection with alleged threats to the SNP politician on the day of his dismissal. she public blame her colleagues because they spread “lies” about her and, in a column in Friday’s newspaper, accused party leaders of making a “masterpiece of Stalinist revisionism” when they fired her.
The SNP now seems the most divided at the exact moment when the stars finally lined up for the majority of voters to support their cause throughout their lives. And, given that young people are typically the demographic age most likely to support independence, it’s a group they can’t afford to lose – but people are most likely to run away from a stench of transphobia. .
In any case, divisions are likely to deepen if the Scottish Government continues with plans to support gender recognition reforms designed to facilitate the change of legal gender by people. The SNP could go to the polls in May, then a second referendum on independence in the next few years, which will fall apart.
“Whenever the party comes into conversation, even with those who are not immediately interested in politics, it automatically associates it with transphobia,” said the former trans officer of the Hope party. “Radical change is necessary only for trans people to feel safe by campaigning for their rights in the party. Until this happens, he will continue to lose faith and support in his youth wing, until a generation of his activists is completely lost. ”
Wadhwa, one of the trans members who resigned from the party, said he would continue to vote for Scotland’s independence if given the opportunity, but warned that if the SNP is “serious about building a more equitable and independent country “, Then” there is no tolerance “it is necessary to approach any kind of fanaticism – whether it is transphobia or any other prejudice”.
She added: “The party is far from it.”