London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

‘Shame on you Sturgeon’: Women take their fight with Scottish leader online over SNP’s gender self-identification plans

‘Shame on you Sturgeon’: Women take their fight with Scottish leader online over SNP’s gender self-identification plans

Women in Scotland have taken their battle with the SNP and leader Nicola Sturgeon online after the nationalist party said that plans to reform gender laws in favour of self-identification were back on the table.

The Scottish government is once again coming under fire for its controversial positioning on gender identity. On Thursday, hundreds took to Twitter to voice their opposition to recent developments, including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's announcement on Tuesday that reforms to gender identity law were back on the agenda, having been suspended during the pandemic.

She said the Gender Recognition Reform bill "will make the existing process of gender recognition less degrading, intrusive and traumatic. In other words, it will make life easier for one of the most stigmatised minorities in our society."

The SNP leader also caused a stir as she heckled Murdo Fraser, the deputy leader of the Scottish conservatives, after he spoke about women protesters' opposition to the bill in the same sitting. "Shame on you!", she shouted across the Holyrood chamber.

Sturgeon's position on transgender rights and self-identification have not been well-received by many women in Scotland, with Tuesday's announcement that the government will be bringing forward gender-recognition reforms in the coming months further inflaming the situation.

"How can women's rights be protected if anyone can be a woman?" one person asked on Twitter, sharing an image illustrating diminishing women's rights and highlighting the safe spaces that men could have access to if self-identification is legalised.


Others concurred, using the trending hashtag #ShameOnYouSturgeon; one asserted that "Female no longer means female only when any man can declare his inner feelings make him female." She added that men in women's prisons aren't men, "they're predatory men" and that men in women's sports aren't female athletes, "they're cheats."

Another shared an image, referencing the Telegraph, which claimed that one in 50 male prisoners identify as transgender versus one in 4,500 in the wider population. "So either self-ID is a disaster or transwomen are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime," the text reads.


One person, addressing their tweet to the first minister, asked why "forcing women to share their safe spaces with males is your number one priority" when the country is struggling with Covid and Brexit, as well as a disgraceful record on drugs deaths and a dire education system.

Others wondered how she had managed to lose the high ground on women's rights to a male Tory MSP.

While there was little support for the Scottish leader on the matter, one pro-independence group said that people were forgetting that Sturgeon is a woman herself. "Not everyone agrees with your bigoted views. Trans Rights are Human Rights," they added.

Scotland has been at the centre of debates around transgender self-identification and trans-rights in recent months. Debate was reignited in August when Scottish feminist campaigner Marion Millar went on trial at a Glasgow court, charged with hate crimes after several historic tweets were deemed transphobic and homophobic. Millar claims she is standing up for hard-won women's rights amid increasing assertiveness of transgender groups. Hundreds gathered outside the court to support her fight and demand the case be dropped.

Earlier in August, Holyrood decided that children as young as four could change their gender and name at school without the consent of their parents. The move was reinforced weeks later when the Scottish bureau responsible for the country's 2022 census announced that people could self-identify when they list their sex on the upcoming survey.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×