SNP conference opens with MP Cherry targeted in transgender rights row
A ROW over transgender rights broke out on the opening day of the SNP conference, with activists demanding the party whip be withdrawn from a prominent MP.
The party’s official LBGTQ+ wing, Out for Independence, signed an open letter to Nicola Sturgeon and Westminster leader Ian Blackford urging action against Joanna Cherry QC.
The signatories, who included SNP, Scottish Green and unaligned campaigners, also called on the SNP to launch an investigation into transphobia in the SNP’S ranks.
A friend of Ms Cherry dismissed it as “small beer”.
The letter claimed Ms Cherry contradicted the SNP’S firm opposition to “conversion therapy”, which tries to “change” someone’s sexuality or gender identity.
In a recent tweet, the Edinburgh South West MP said conversion therapy, which is soon to be banned, was something which “any right thinking person must oppose”.
She then added: “We must not make it a criminal offence for therapists to try to help patients with gender dysphoria to feel comfortable in their birth sex.”
The open letter claimed this last sentence amounted to Ms Cherry publicly calling for “conversion therapy aimed at transgender people to be exempt [from a ban] and that legislation on conversion therapy in general must be paused”.
The letter also accused Ms Cherry, who is gay, of making multiple “transphobic statements”.
Last week, Ms Cherry wrote a newspaper column about her beliefs on conversion therapy, and said: “Of course I’m against conversion therapy. What I want to preserve is therapy for young girls who are gender confused. Please ignore the distortions & the witch hunt”.
She wrote: “Over the past few years, there has been a very worrying rise in the number of children, particularly girls, becoming convinced they were ‘born in the wrong body’ and seeking to take puberty-blocking drugs and cross-sex hormones.
“This is a controversial, experimental medical treatment for a complex problem. We have also seen an increase in the number of young people who have later regretted the irreversible changes made to their bodies and who have sought to ‘detransition’.
“I am concerned that young women, particularly those who may be lesbians, should be offered alternatives to such drastic medical pathways, and that their teachers, parents and therapists should not be threatened with prison and fines for discussing these options with them.”
The open letter signatories called “for the SNP whip to be removed from Joanna Cherry, and for the National Secretary to investigate her actions pending a review by the member conduct committee.
“We also reiterate calls for an independent investigation into transphobia in the SNP.”
The For Women Scotland group said the “usual suspects” and “zealots” had ganged up on the MP. Ms Cherry declined to comment. The SNP was asked for comment, but did not respond.