FORMER SNP MP Joanna Cherry has demanded an apology from Nicola Sturgeon in light of a major legal ruling that women are defined by biology.
The KC, who lost her seat at last year’s election, slated her former boss – accusing the ex-first minister of slandering her as a “bigot and a transphobe” for arguing the position the Supreme Court has now endorsed.
Judges ruled unanimously that the terms “women” and “sex” were defined in equality laws by biology, meaning that trans women who hold a Gender Recognition Certificate are not fully considered women in the eyes of the law.
Speaking outside Britain’s highest court on Wednesday, Cherry told reporters she felt “hugely vindicated” by the ruling – as she laid down a challenge to John Swinney to change the rules in Scotland to align with the judgment.
She said: “Now it’s over to the politicians to make sure that the law is obeyed.
“I’m calling on my former colleague, John Swinney, the First Minister of Scotland, and on the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, to respect this judgment and to do what they say that they do.
“They both say they believe in women’s rights and they believe in women’s rights to single-sex spaces. If they mean that then they need to make sure that public policy changes to respect the fact that women means biological women and lesbian means women who are sexually attracted to women.
“Men are not included within those categories.”
She said there will “have to be a sea change” across the public sector to recognise that the law has been clarified in the ruling.
Cherry, an inveterate critic of Sturgeon, added: “I’m a long-term feminist. I’m a lesbian who came out in the ’80s and campaigned against Section 28.
“I’ve had to put up with my own party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, calling me a bigot and a transphobe for sticking up for the rights of women and lesbians.
“I think she owes all of us, not just me, and more importantly the women of Scotland, an apology.”
Sturgeon was approached for comment.
