Nicola Sturgeon says trans lives could be 'almost unliveable' as she breaks silence on Supreme Court ruling

Nicola Sturgeon has rejected calls to apologise as she warned trans lives could become “unliveable” in breaking her silence on the Supreme Court judgment on the definition of a woman.

The former first minister, who has been a strong ally of the trans community, warned that if interim guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights Committee (EHRC) was implemented in full, the UK government should look at amending the law to allow transgender people to “live with dignity and in a way that they feel safe and accepted in society”.

Nicola Sturgeon | PA

Speaking to journalists at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, Ms Sturgeon pushed back against calls from campaigners to apologise to women.

Pressed over claims opinions she opposed were ignored, Ms Sturgeon stressed she would “fundamentally and respectfully disagree“, adding that “opinions of all opinions were taken into account”.

READ MORE: John Swinney warns businesses against transgender spaces knee-jerk response

The Supreme Court’s ruling

The Supreme Court ruled that a woman in the UK Equality Act refers to a biological woman. The EHRC has issued interim guidance that states trans people should not use single sex spaces of their acquired gender.

Ms Sturgeon acknowledged the Supreme Court judgement was “the law of the land”.

But she added: “The question for me, and I think for a lot of people, is how that is now translated into practice - can that be done in a way that, of course, protects women, but allows trans people to live their lives with dignity and in a safe and accepted way? I think that remains to be seen.

“I think some of the early indications would raise concerns, in my mind, that we are at risk of making the lives of trans people almost unliveable.

A transgender flag flies during a demonstration (photo by Matthieu Delaty / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP). The IFA is being called on to ban 'transwomen' from female teams in NI

“I don’t think the majority of people in the country would want to see that. It certainly doesn’t make a single woman safer to do that - because the threat to women comes from predatory and abusive men.”

Pressed over the EHRC interim guidance, Ms Sturgeon said: “I would be very concerned with that interim guidance if that became the final guidance. I hope that’s not the case. I think that potentially makes the lives of trans people almost unliveable.

“I don’t think it’s inevitable that we go from the Supreme Court judgment to a situation where trans lives become impossibly difficult.”

‘Not a moral judgment’

Asked if the UK government should amend legislation if the interim guidance is rolled out in full, Ms Sturgeon said the court ruling was “not a moral judgment”, adding “it’s not a statement of what the law should be”.

READ MORE: SNP MSP wants John Swinney and Nicola Sturgeon to say sorry to transgender people after Supreme Court ruling

She said: “I also think it’s really important that the tiny, tiny number of people who are trans in this county get to live with dignity and in a way that they feel safe and accepted in society.

“Having read the Supreme Court judgment, I don’t think it’s inevitable that that judgment makes the lives of trans people impossibly difficult.

“But I think there is a danger that the interpretations that some are putting on that will lead to that. If that is the case, then yes, it would be my view that the law as it stands, would need to be looked at.”

Joanna Cherry | PA

Former SNP MP Joanna Cherry, who lost her seat at last year’s general election, claimed Ms Sturgeon’s warning was “the sort of fatuous hyperbole that she has indulged in in relation to these issues from the outset”. Ms Cherry said “it is deeply irresponsible for any politician to so misrepresent the judgment”.

“It’s a simply not true to say that all opinions were taken account of in this debate,” she said.

‘‘Nicola Sturgeon is trying to rewrite history in relation to these matters, but those of us who fought her every inch of the way in her attack on the rights of women and LGB people will not let her do so.”

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: “For years she [Ms Sturgeon] arrogantly dismissed the concerns of women and girls that their rights and safety were being sacrificed, as she parroted the views of extremist gender activists and ensured they were adopted across Scotland’s public sector.

“Nicola Sturgeon needs to hold her hands up and say sorry to the women of Scotland. But she and the SNP never admit to their mistakes or accept accountability when they get things badly wrong.”