Wow.
One of the great political voices for Scottish Independence steps down leaving a Jacinda similar wistfulness of what ifs as a legacy.
Sturgeon lead an amazing 8 years for Scotland and was so close to gaining the momentum for another referendum on Scottish Independence, but the toxicity of the Trans debate utterly burnt her out.
What should have been a simple legislative change to ease bureaucratic processes to gain identity papers has of course morphed into an enormous culture war with the heavily invested middle class woke vs old school feminists.
The viciousness of the debate has been radioactive and erupted beyond all reason when a rapist managed to be sent to a Womens prison because he now identified as a woman.
You can imagine how that went down…
Nicola Sturgeon: Trans rights debate is regret from my time in office
The SNP leader – who will formally quit when a new leader is elected – denied she was stepping down as a result of the row over the Scottish Government’s transgender law reforms and a number of high-profile scandals involving trans prisoners.
But she said she regretted not being able to cool down those debates, including that around gender recognition reform, which she said became infected with voters’ opinions about her and about independence more generally.
…as with Jacinda, Nicola denied stepping down was because of the vileness of the debate, but it was, and Nicola acknowledges how the Trans debate derailed her.
The lack of any real intellectual and philosophical defence of so much political capital burnt for an ill thought out social policy is a reminder of how hollow a lot of woke virtue signalling is.
Nicola Sturgeon admirably wanted to protect the rights of a minority, but the way that minority (with woke allies) have used call out cancel culture to militantly gain their demands has left a sour taste in the mouths of many who have no problem with Trans people identifying how they like, however allowing a male rapist into a female prison because he’s gaming the system was always going to be met with enormous ‘I-told-you-so’ resentment.
In the lens of identity, everything is an existential threat.
This is the age of subjective rage.
There is no objective truth.
Just feelings.
This is what the Political Left has been reduced to, a haggis of empty Identity Politics that alienate with pure temple politics rather than Broadchurch solidarity.
Dear Wokies – we get it, your self constructed identity is far more important than our shared humanity
Now please, go back to sleep.
Bye Nicola. Another political case of go woke, go broke.
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Sturgeon, just like Arden, saw every measurement of society worsen under her watch….health/crime/housing/poverty and her popularity plummet.
Also both were bogged down by single issues that were unpopular and refused to let go…Scottish Independence and 3/5 Waters respectively.
They both stepped down as both knew they were toast at elections.
Absolutely correct.
But Nicola will be absolutely fine as she can continue to identify as first minister for as long as she likes.
A global pandemic might have had something to do with those statistics. That’s not to say they didn’t get distracted by issues such as Sturgeons battle with Mrs. Potter but you can say exactly the same thing about all the right wing blokes. Look at Ardern’s pandemic numbers ( as Ian Powell points out). Admittedly preventing earlier deaths than otherwise are not so important to the Mike Hoskings of the world. If you use the metrics that all the flaming right wingers used to worry about Arden’s reign didn’t do badly either in terms of GDP etc. Inflation bad but any worse than the right wing equivalent blokes?
100%
Trudeau next.
Was Scot independence that unpopular,? I thought it was close to 49%? If you make statements perhaps you could verify them with simple stats from credible sources.
That’s of no concern Greywarbler. It’s just like Bob the First and crew feigning outrage at homelessness, housing in general, when they get all giddy over people/parties that will make those things even worse. Like tough on crime National who actually managed to underfund the police.
They had to step down they both failed.
You think the Tories would have done a better job. All they are about is cutting, cutting and more cutting.
“A haggis of identity politics” lol.
Scotland has some serious problems, and Wee Krankie’s solution was puberty blockers and gender self-ID.
Scotland heaves a sigh of relief, much like NZ a few weeks ago.
nah, the woke shit is still here, it sits now in human who identifies as a man.
Prime Minister’s are supposed to improve people’s lives not make them worse.
Ardern and Sturgeon both did that.
Labour Government still doing it.
Woke rental laws and ideology have now escalated a rental crisis so that Scottish students are being encouraged to drop out of university as there is simply no accomodation for them. They are hundreds of thousands short of houses in Scotland, just like the UK.
Good luck relying on woke governments for affordable housing, they seem to fall short, and create greater and greater housing shortages at higher and higher prices for building them, and with greater natural disasters affecting housing constantly by the wokes refusal to get serious about climate change/ (changing gender is more important as signature policy for woke).
Part of it is, that woke expect a significant amount of able bodied people to not work, do what ever they want, (me time), take no responsibility and medical action for any part of their lives they believe to be wrong, while hating and wanting more prescription on others lives who do work, pay taxes and so forth and angry as those that don’t help them enough.
Unfortunately it doesn’t really work for society when everybody needs 24 hour me time and support and spend their lives and interests on themselves or their woke cause. (Woke causes funded by right wing interests/ disrupting government groups).
You getting more and more rednecky every day?
Do you really want wealth and power to be hoarded by the wealthy, to get rid of welfare and slash wages?
the worst thing is her shannangans have put back the chances of an independence referendum thus continuing the shakling of scotland to a rapidly sinking brexshit uk.
I think the alphabet people are going to drop the ‘t’ in their alphabet soon because its a misrepresentation of them all.
The ‘T’ is old news last time I bothered seeing what passes for US activism we are apparently 2SLGBTQIA+
I think you need to shove that Bible up your arse.
Dont forget to add the P.
You ok with men who are rapists who identify as women being housed in women’s prisons Millay?
You ok with men who are rapists who identify as women being housed in women’s prisons Millay?
Are you OK with transgender prisoners getting raped and shanked in men’s prisons?
Millsy. You need to have a cup of tea and kitkat.
The ‘t’ people are no different from the rest of us and horrific things happen to other people.
By prioritising their wellbeing over everyone else’s is why there is pushback. They should be subject to the same prejudice, bias, discrimination ect … as the rest of us. Because that is the real world that we all live in, unfortunately.
“..The [black/gay] people are no different from the rest of us and horrific things happen to other people.
By prioritising their wellbeing over everyone else’s is why there is pushback. They should be subject to the same prejudice, bias, discrimination ect … as the rest of us. Because that is the real world that we all live in, unfortunately.”..”
Women law makers like Ardern and Sturgeon, who have led the changes to make i easier for any male to self ID as a woman, are the one’s least likely to be impacted by males gaming the systems they have enabled. And like Sturgeon, many have often dismissed claims that sex self ID would make it easier for predatory males to self ID into spaces reserved for women and girls.
The girls and women most likely to be negatively impacted by such law changes are those on low incomes, and who are more likely to be using public systems. This is particularly true of women in prisons. It should be obvious. We are not seeing transmen (females who ID as men), queuing up to get access to women’s prisons as is happening with males who self ID as transwomen. Part of the reason is that men are generally much stronger than women. (That’s pretty obvious when we see transmen are not queuing up to participate in men’s sports the way transwomen are self IDing into women’s sports.
Men’s prisons are pretty brutal places. Vulnerable men, including transwomen, gay men, disabled men, and others should perhaps be given the opportunity to be housed in separate wings within male prison. And more importantly, something needs to be done to improve men’s prisons.
Women in prisons are much more likely to have suffered domestic and/or sexual abuse and male violence than the average woman in the general population. To have to share enclosed spaces in prison with potentially violent or sexually abusive men can be emotionally and physically re-traumatising for female inmates
Jacinda Ardern promised Rainbow organisations she would aim to make sex self ID law (probably strongly influenced by her mate Grant Robertson), without consulting with women generally – she certainly didn’t consult with low income women.
Middle and upper class female lawmakers clearly have not been acting in the interests of low income and vulnerable women on many issues.
@Karolyn what you say about the policies effecting women can be generalised to the whole woke movement. For the most part those pontificating and making policy in what laughably passes as progressive politics these days, do not have to live with the consequences of their ideas.
I’d respectfully suggest that modern woke activism which has been incredibly damaging to women’s rights has also been a disaster for trans acceptance.
No trans person I know celebrates the ‘liberatory’ acts of placing trans women in women’s prisons or having them face off against women in competitive sport. Nor do they rejoice at medicalising non-gender conforming adolescents (who are typically gay). Most are fully aware of biological realities too.
Today’s Queer Theory based activism rolls back women’s rights and risks women’s safety while doing nothing to advance trans acceptance and more likely will encourage anti-LGBT blowback.
I agree, Tui.
I think there’s a few trans people keeping their heads down and hoping that the transactivists will calm down and become more realistic. There are also quite a few non-trans people, who are fervent transactivist allies, pushing the gender ID ideology. They can be some of the most vocal and extreme.
Indeed, it’s tough to navigate between one camp associating you with ridiculous ideological excesses. Another camp seeking pious proclamations on everything from Harry Potter to self ID. Then the activists themselves who will metaphorically stone anyone who is a ‘traitor’ to the faith.
If the woke movement seeks equity, it is to make life equally miserable for everyone.
Well said Karolyn.
“but the way that minority (with woke allies) have used call out cancel culture to militantly gain their demands”
@Martyn I agree with the sentiments of your piece but to push back on your use of “that minority”, most trans people have nothing to do with Trans activists. Arguably in the last 5 years the biggest barrier to trans respect and acceptance are Trans activists themselves, activist sources of funding and well intentioned idiots in the media and the political class.
One of the people who are contention to replace her, is a transphobic, homophobic pro-life evangalical Christian. I suppose that is more of the style of the commentors on here. A biblical theocracy, where anything that goes against the bible is banned.
The Old Testament says that men who wear women’s clothing should be put to death. A lot of the anti Trans BS makes lot of sense when viewed from that standpoint.
evangelicals are the deluded sevants of satans false religion and in thrall to mamon, worshipping false idols.
they do not follow the bible but interpret gods words, an act of blasphemy in itself..usurping gods place as the perfect word of god needs no interpretation and is in fact sacrosanct.
there y’go that should wind up the god botherers
“Dear Wokies – we get it, your self constructed identity is far more important than our shared humanity.”
Umm Martyn, I think you’ll find that trans people would like to be part of that humanity, not already marginalized objects of concerted fearmongering & smear campaigns.
Trans rights are human rights, simple. There’s no debate to be had. To use correct (“preferred”, if you like) pronouns is only respectful. It’s only difficult if you want it to be. Thankfully NZ – from June this year – is joining other enlightened nations in allowing self ID.