Nicola Sturgeon quits: Scottish leader departure follows criticism of transgender agenda
Rachel Schilke
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Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is resigning from her role as the nation’s leader in the wake of controversy and criticism over her support of transgender policies and gender identification reforms.
Sturgeon, who made history in 2014 as Scotland’s first female first minister, confirmed her resignation at a news conference on Wednesday, stating that she knew “in my head and in my heart” that it was the right time to step down. While she acknowledged there have been “choppy waters,” she denied she is stepping down because of the “latest period of pressure,” according to BBC News.
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However, a series of blunders relating to transgender and gender identity policies, an area she championed as first minister, brought her regularly into the line of fire from media and lawmakers from opposing political parties and her own.
As the leader of the Scottish National Party, she entered the role pursuing her party’s goal of achieving Scottish independence, with a referendum now set for October 2023. Sturgeon also brought into the position views on transgender rights and gender recognition reforms that were viewed by her critics as excessively progressive.
Criticism against her transgender policies rose dramatically after reports surfaced that Isla Bryson, a newly convicted transgender woman, was held in women’s prison Cornton Vale. During Bryson’s time identifying as a man under the name Adam Graham, Bryson raped two women in 2016 and 2019.
Despite Sturgeon’s call to remove Bryson, stating that “a rapist should not be in a women’s prison,” her critics used the incident as fuel for the fire in opposition to the Scottish government’s gender recognition changes, per the Guardian.
Some of the gender recognition changes included the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which would allow self-identification for people aged 16 and older wishing to change their legal gender identification on identity documents. Under the bill, people would not need a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria to make the changes, which is needed in other parts of the United Kingdom, according to the Associated Press.
However, opponents pointed to a lack of safeguards in the bill. Some members of Sturgeon’s own Scottish National Party had objected to her push of the gender reform bill, stating that it ignored the protection of single-sex spaces for women, such as domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers. They also argued the bill could have a negative effect on the country’s chances for independence.
The Scottish Parliament approved the legislation. However, the U.K. government under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak exercised rarely used powers under provisions in the Scotland Act to block the legislation from becoming law, citing that it presented “safety issues for women and children” and could cause “significant complications from having two different gender recognition regimes in the U.K.”
It seemed the Scottish public agreed with Sunak’s decision. After the reports on Bryson came out, a poll showed 50% of respondents supported the U.K. government’s decision to block the gender reform bill.
Sturgeon had vowed to take the British government to court over the bill, which was championed by transgender rights activists as a landmark piece of legislation. Sturgeon said after the U.K. government blocked the bill that Sunak and the ministers made a “profound mistake.” However, it is unclear if she will move forward with that challenge or if her successor will take up the mantle.
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“Since the very first moment in the job, I have believed that part of serving well would be to know, almost instinctively, when the time is right to make way for someone else,” she said in her resignation statement to reporters. “And when that time came, to have the courage to do so, even if many across the country, and in my party, might feel it too soon.”
“In my head and in my heart I know that time is now. That it is right for me, for my party, and for the country,” she continued. “And so today, I am announcing my intention to step down as first minister and leader of my party.”