Nicola Sturgeon is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023.
Sturgeon became a target of gender critical activists for her support of gender recognition reform.
Background
Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon was born on 19 July 1970 in Irvine. She joined the SNP in 1986. She earned a bachelor’s degree from University of Glasgow School of Law in 1992. She soon began working as a solicitor and holding leadership roles within SNP. She served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014 under Alex Salmond, during which time she also served as Health Secretary. She was a key leader in SNP’s unsuccessful 2014 Scottish independence referendum campaign. She was sworn in a First Minister later that year.
She and former SNP CEO Peter Murrell began a relationship in 2003 and married in 2010. Both were arrested and questioned about SNP finances several weeks after Sturgeon resigned in 2023.
Gender Recognition Reform
In 2016, the SNP vowed to review and reform the way that trans people change their legal gender via the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill . The bill passed in Parliament 86 to 39 in 2022. Weeks later, the UK Government prevented it from gaining Royal Assent under a section 35 order of the Scottish Act 1998. Sturgeon was attacked by critics for her response to the Isla Bryson case involving transgender prisoner housing.
References
Staff report (April 1, 2016). Nicola Sturgeon makes gender recognition pledge. BBC News [archive] https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2016-scotland-35945543
Sanderson, Daniel (February 1, 2021). SNP civil war deepens as leading Sturgeon critic Joanna Cherry purged from Westminster team. The Daily Telegraph [archive] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/02/01/snp-civil-war-deepens-leading-sturgeon-critic-purged-westminster/
Staff report (June 20, 2019). Scottish transgender reforms put on hold. BBC News [archive] https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-48702946
Staff report (April 1, 2020). Transgender reforms shelved due to coronavirus pandemic. STV News [archive]
Merson, Adele (June 30, 2021). Trans rights: How gender recognition reform became one of Scotland’s most heated debates. The Press and Journal (Scotland) [archive] https://news.stv.tv/politics/transgender-reforms-shelved-due-to-coronavirus-pandemic
Johnson, Simon (August 23, 2021). Nicola Sturgeon facing backlash over proposed gender legislation. The Telegraph [archive] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/08/23/nicola-sturgeon-facing-backlash-proposed-gender-legislation/
Gordon, Tom (September10, 2021). Nicola Sturgeon dismisses concerns over gender reforms as ‘not valid’. The Herald [archive] https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/19571909.nicola-sturgeon-dismisses-concerns-gender-reforms-not-valid/
Staff report (January 17, 2023). Nicola Sturgeon says gender reform row will go to court. BBC News [archive] https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-64264063
Staff report (February 9, 2023).Nicola Sturgeon’s gender conundrum: Is Isla Bryson a man or a woman. BBC News [archive] https://bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64590421
Camobell, Glenn (February 15, 2023). Nicola Sturgeon says time is right to resign as Scotland’s first minister. BBC https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-64647907
Resources
Scottish Parliament (parliament.scot)
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Twitter (twitter.com)
Instagram (instagram.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)