FORMER Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has called out people posting “sickening insults” about trans people on social media.
It comes after the Scottish Government revealed it will be taking Westminster to court after it vetoed the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from becoming law.
Leonard, who welcomed the decision on Twitter on Wednesday, has now called out those sending abuse to trans people.
He said: “If you’re replying to this with any version of the sickening insults that describe trans people as abusers, or are questioning the discrimination they are facing at the moment, then I would just like you to know that your hate will never win.
If you're replying to this with any version of the sickening insults that describe trans people as abusers, or are questioning the discrimination they are facing at the moment, then I would just like you to know that your hate will never win. Love and solidarity will. https://t.co/adjVPfKwFX
— Richard Leonard (@LabourRichard) April 13, 2023
“Love and solidarity will.”
Overall Scottish Labour are divided when it comes to the court case with the likes of Leonard and his colleague Monica Lennon backing the decision.
However, the party’s equalities spokesperson Paul O’Kane was less welcoming, saying that the First Minister should have “provided a reset moment on this debate”.
“Trans people and women are still being failed and the SNP and Tory governments are doing nothing to find consensus.
“This issue is too important to be reduced to political point scoring or culture wars.
“A fraught and expensive legal battle could have been avoided if both of our governments had been more willing to work in good faith to deliver a bill that works for everyone”, he said.
Speaking on BBC Good Morning Scotland on Thursday, SNP MP Dr Philippa Whitford has said that the Scottish Government would effectively be “accepting devolution was over” if it did not launch a legal challenge.
Some members of the party however, including Joanna Cherry and Ash Regan, have questioned the decision to take the UK Government to court.
Regan said it would result in a “humiliating defeat” while Cherry said she could not understand why the Scottish Government is “taking legal action it’s unlikely to win”.
