Former SNP leader concedes rapists may lose gender choice as she faces backlash over past stance.
Nicola Sturgeon has said that male rapists should “probably” lose the right to choose their gender — a remark marking a notable shift from her position during Scotland’s bitter gender recognition law row.
The former first minister, promoting her memoir Frankly, made the comment in an ITV interview when asked about the case of Isla Bryson, the transgender offender who in 2023 was initially sent to a women’s prison after being convicted of two rapes.
Bryson, formerly known as Adam Graham, self-identified as a woman while awaiting trial but was later moved from Cornton Vale women’s prison to a men’s facility following public outcry. The incident unfolded during fierce debate over plans to make it easier for people in Scotland to change their legally recognised sex — legislation ultimately blocked by the UK government.
At the time, Sturgeon repeatedly refused to call Bryson a man. Now, she told ITV: “Anybody who commits the most heinous male crime against women probably forfeits the right to be the gender of their choice.” She acknowledged “probably” was not the best phrase, later describing Bryson as a “biological male” and conceding she should have been “much more straightforward” in her earlier statements.
Embed from Getty ImagesShe also admitted she was “partly responsible” for the debate on gender recognition losing “all sense of rationality” and said, in retrospect, she should have paused the self-ID legislation.
Backlash from political opponents
SNP MSP Michelle Thomson, who with Conservative MSP Russell Findlay proposed an amendment to block gender recognition certificates for rapists, said Sturgeon’s new position came “too late.” She accused Sturgeon of forcing SNP members to vote against protections for women’s rights at the time.
“This was not, and never will be, the actions of a feminist,” Thomson said, urging Sturgeon to apologise.
Findlay, now Scottish Conservative leader, was scathing: “Frankly, Nicola Sturgeon must be delusional if she thinks the women of Scotland will swallow this drivel.” He accused her of clinging to “absurd ideological belief” in self-ID while belatedly conceding Bryson was a man.
Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Jackie Baillie also demanded an apology, accusing Sturgeon of “rewriting history” and leaving the country in a “dire state.”
Other revelations
In the interview, Sturgeon also spoke about the intense scrutiny she faces in Scotland, saying she sometimes feels “I can’t breathe freely” and hinting she may spend more time in London.
She reflected on her time as deputy first minister during the 2014 independence referendum, claiming then-first minister Alex Salmond had not read the Scottish government’s white paper on independence in full. She described “cold fury” when Salmond told her he was leaving for a trade mission to China instead of reviewing the document, calling it an “abdication of responsibility.”
Sturgeon recounted suffering a panic attack while completing the paper. The two later fell out over the Scottish government’s botched investigation into harassment complaints against Salmond, who was acquitted of sexual offence charges in 2020. He died in October 2024 at the age of 69.
Former Alba Party general secretary Chris McEleny dismissed her claims about Salmond as “laughable,” accusing her of lacking personal political accountability.
A shift in tone
The controversy around Bryson’s imprisonment was a key flashpoint in Scotland’s gender recognition debate, creating deep divisions within the SNP and the wider public. Sturgeon’s latest remarks signal a softening of her stance, aligning more closely with critics who argued for restrictions on self-ID for offenders convicted of violent sexual crimes.
While she maintains that women’s rights and trans rights are “not irreconcilable,” her admission that she should have taken a step back is unlikely to silence those who believe the damage was already done.
