Former SNP member demands probe into ‘transphobia in the party ranks’

A FORMER member of the SNP has called for an investigation into transphobia, claiming more than 20 complaints about it were ignored.

Emma Cuthbertson, a former women’s officer in the party’s Motherwell and Wishaw branch, told of how she feared almost daily for her safety and was the victim of attacks by councillors, MSPS, MPS and unelected party members due to her being transgender.

She has also accused senior party figures of treating abuse of trans people as “acceptable collateral damage to maintain party unity”.

In a lengthy statement, Ms Cuthbertson said the “sheer amount of transphobia from elected party members; MPS, MSPS and Councillors was both upsetting and astounding” during her five years as an SNP member.

After being elected as a women’s officer in 2019, Ms Cuthbertson claims she was “being relentlessly targeted on social media, almost daily”.

She said: “I had two women’s officers, from Nairn and Central Scotland, deliberately misgender me as a man. At an SNP conference there was concern enough about my physical safety that signs had to be put up reminding people of how to conduct themselves.”

Ms Cuthbertson, who left the SNP earlier this year, has now joined the Scottish Greens and is a co-convener of the party’s LGBT+ wing, the Rainbow Greens.

Prior to leaving the party, she said she sent “at least 21 complaints” to Angus Macleod, the national secretary, copying in First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Business Convener Kirsten Oswald MP and the party’s women and equalities convener.

She said: “Everyone at the top of the party was aware of what was going on.

“I met with Angus twice where he accepted that the code of conduct was severely lacking and where he said this is a fight they don’t want to have.

“The complaints went unanswered, an experience shared by the many others who sent complaints in.

“I also had a meeting with the SNP’S chief operations officer at SNP HQ where she again confirmed the code of conduct is out of date and not fit for purpose.”

Ms Cuthbertson claims that SNP leaders “know full well that the party have a problem with transphobia, and increasingly homophobia, but the leadership have consciously taken the decision to do nothing about it.” She said: “They stopped complaints, they stopped any discussion at the National Executive Committee, and they stopped any conference motion that even mentioned trans and non-binary people.

“I can only conclude that they view the abuse of LGBT+ people as acceptable collateral damage to maintain party ‘unity’.

“If it doesn’t affect the SNP’S reputation, polling, membership numbers or votes then we can be safely ignored.”

The SNP was contacted for comment but did not respond.