Outgoing Deputy Leader of the SNP Mhairi Black defended the trans+ community during a speech at an Edinburgh Fringe Festival event.
Speaking at an ‘In Conversation with…’ event hosted by Graham Spiers, she criticised the way trans issues have been transformed into “intellectual debate.”
“I want trans people to be able to live with dignity and happiness,” she declared. “And for newspapers and politicians to leave them the hell alone.”
“Being trans is not something to be feared,” she continued. “It’s just an aspect of a human being, the same way being gay is just an aspect of who I am.”
Black shut down the false notion that there is no protection for sex, rather than gender.
READ MORE: British Rowing bans trans women from competing in female category
Responding to a question about trans people accessing single sex spaces, she also revealed she has faced more difficulty with women’s toilets in the past five years than the rest of her life.
“The only place as far as I’m concerned that my sex matters, as opposed to my gender, is in a medical setting,” Black stated. “That’s between me and a doctor.”
Mhairi Black also called out Christian groups for scapegoating
The MP additionally highlighted how Christian groups, often opposed to abortion, scapegoat trans people.
“There are definitely bad actors at play,” she said. “Radicalising people who are vulnerable, radicalising people who are too online, and they are also using this small community as a wedge issue to cause chaos.
“It’s been happening since 2016 at least. And if you start tracing it back, all these big names, the money always comes back to fundamental Christian groups in America: Baptist groups, anti-abortion organisations.”
Black recently announced that she will be stepping down in the next general election.
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