09/05/2023
The I Newspaper reported Tuesday that a senior politician from the Scottish National Party, which is broadly progressive on LGBT+ issues, feels "no longer safe" if she attends LGBTQIA Pride events. Joanna Cherry, the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South West in the House of Commons, claims that she has been ostracised by the Party because of her opposition to the SNP's Gender Recognition Certificate Reform proposals. Ms Cherry is, according to Wikipedia, a lesbian, but she does not associate with any mainstream LGBT Groups because of her position. Wikipedia reports that Cherry was already a controversial figure within the wider gay and lesbian community before making her opposition to gender reform public. It notes "In September 2016, she issued an apology after defending a comedy rap group Witsherface performance at a pro-independence event that had been criticised as homophobic. The performance had shockingly called (Gay Scottish) Conservative leader Ruth Davidson "Dykey' D" and had portrayed her making her inappropriate comments towards lesbian SNP MP Mhairi Black". Ms Cherry also wanted the Equality Network in Scotland, an NGO campaigning group, referred to Scottish Government for investigation. Dubbed as "the litigious lesbian" by her critics, Wikipedia reports "On 21 February 2021, Cherry was criticised by the Scottish branch of PEN International (a charity campaigning for writers and press freedom) for her attempts to silence critics who questioned her by threatening defamation action". Out for Independence, an LGBTQIA Campaign group working within the Scottish National Party will be holding its annual general meeting on 27th May at Glasgow University Union. They have publicly distanced themselves from Ms Cherry and remarked "We hope you can join us for a day of connecting with other LGBTQ+ members of the party, discussing pressing issues for our community, and adopting resolutions to shape the policy direction of both Out for Independence and the Party."
http://outforindy.scot/ofi-conference-2023
