When A Women Stands Up For Herself, She Stands Up For All Women

“You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.”

The struggle to maintain our rights and protect children has required women to stand up and take on the might of the transgender lobby. The women risk losing work, jobs, colleagues, and friendships. They are abused, bullied, and ostracised but do not back down.

Sandie Peggie and Ash Regan are two such women and their stories intertwine.

The campaign organisation For Women Scotland took the Scottish Government to court over the Gender Representation on Public Boards Act. The judgment of Lady Haldane was that for the purposes of the Equality Act; a woman is 'a female of any age' and therefore men can be legally excluded from women's sports, spaces, and services.

Currently in our Scottish institutions men's wants supersede a women's needs.

Decades of law is not adhered to, whether it is separate changing rooms at work or single-sex toilets at school. And, men larping as women are coddled and indulged and women who question or complain are vilified and punished.

This is due to the actions of the SNP Government over the last decade and the advocacy of Nicola Sturgeon, who will be remembered as a t-shirt slogan 'Destroyer of Women's Rights' as she has achieved nothing else of note.

Over the last fortnight, we have witnessed the Scottish NHS, so captured by the insidious gender ideology it has lost all common sense, and medical professionals

are unable to admit the reality of the two immutable sexes.

We listen to a six-foot-tall man, who is clearly a man, in looks, physiology, attitude, and voice, tell us he is a woman.

The man sits with the absolute confidence of male entitlement and tells us he has 'never been spoken to like that before'. He tells us a female nurse has bullied and harassed him because she asked him not to use the women's changing room.

It is only because he is a man that his complaint was given any credence, and only because he is a man who role plays a woman that NHS Fife management fell over themselves to reassure him and condemn the victim before they'd even heard her side of the story. They even let Dr Upton edit the minutes of a meeting.

The NHS managers knew exactly who the man was.

We witnessed Ester Davidson, a senior nurse, coached to within an inch of her life and absolutely, terrified. She was so scared of wrong speak and fearing the wrath of the NHS Fife Diversity and Equality Department, that she was reduced to gibbering idiocy.

Ester fidgeted and fell back time and time again on scripted lines

'I treat everyone as an individual',

'I wanted to ensure Beth and Sandie's safety',

'I am not qualified to answer that',

'It was a long time ago I can't remember'.

Ester was too scared to answer even basic questions on sex differences and when asked if wearing a dress could change a man's DNA, Ester looked helplessly at the judge. The judge took pity and instructed Sandie's counsel that a nurse wouldn't be qualified to answer that question.

When NHS Fife received Dr Upton's complaint Sandie Peggie, a nurse with a thirty-year unblemished career was immediately suspended, she was subjected to a disciplinary investigation, and when she was allowed to return to work it was on a different shift and she had to be supervised by a senior nurse.

The management circulated unsubstantiated smears that Sandie compromised patient safety. The smear lacked even the tiniest bit of credibility.

Sandie's character was attacked, she once stayed in a Trump Hotel, perish the thought. Her family's social media was trawled. Sandie had the full force of the establishment against her.

Yet she fought, she gathered her strength and her supporters and she did not back down. She took the NHS Board and the doctor to an employment tribunal. For almost two and a half days Sandie was questioned. She disclosed previous sexual abuse by a doctor. No one should have to disclose trauma to maintain their rights but all too often this is the case. Sandie gave clear, concise answers and remained calm throughout cross-examination. She earned our gratitude and respect, Sandie stood up for all of us.

Ash Regan was an SNP minister when the Gender Recognition Reform Act (GRR) was making its way through the Scottish Parliament in late 2022. The Act allowed self-id which would mean men on their say-so could identify as women and gain access to women's sports, single-sex spaces, and services.

Nicola Sturgeon, SNP leader was riding high, no one crossed her because the consequences were severe; careers were ruined or killed before they even got started. Smears and dirty tricks were employed, and anyone standing against Sturgeon was squashed.

Ash had been arguing inside the SNP against self-id, but now she had a decision to make. Did she keep her ministerial career or resign and vote against the GRR?

Ash knew the consequences of going against Sturgeon. She had seen what had happened to Joanna Cherry and Joan MacAlpine but Ash did the right thing and stood up for us all.

Ash Regan was the first SNP minister to resign on a point of principle since Sturgeon took over and probably a long time before that. Sturgeon penned Ash a very cold reply to her resignation. Ash was shunned by SNP colleagues, who were scared of Sturgeon's wrath.

Ash's resignation fatally undermined Sturgeon's authority and the dominoes started to fall.

Although the Parliament passed the GRR, the political climate has changed. Now the Scottish Secretary has the voters' backing and can block the bill as it affects the Equality Act.

When in early 2023 a double rapist was initially sent to a women's prison it was the end of Self-Id in Scotland and the end of Sturgeon's spell as First Minister.

So given that there is no Self-Id in Scotland it rather begs the question as to why NHS Fife believed Dr Upton was entitled to change with the women.

In addition to women's rights and safeguarding, Ash Regan is a committed independence supporter. In late 2023 Ash made the move to the Alba Party. This resulted in Ash changing office and in a typical fit of histrionics the Greens Party complained that they didn't want to share a 'corridor' with Ash, as it made them feel 'unsafe'.

However, over the subsequent months, Ash has built a solid and respected reputation, tackling diverse issues from child safeguarding to Grangemouth. As the only Alba representative, she has to be across all briefs.

Currently, Ash is working crossparty on her bill, Unbuyable, which will deal with the harms of prostitution.

Ash is standing to be Alba Party leader, with the election set for next month.

Today and every day I remember my dear friend Trish MacPherson who sadly passed away last July. Trish was a dedicated campaigner for women's rights, had she lived she would have been at that tribunal every day to stand with Sandie Peggie.

To Trish, Sandie and Ash, and all the strong women who have taken a stand: We thank you, we owe you, and we are united in solidarity and sisterhood.

We won't be defeated.  

"Here's To Strong Women,

May We Know Them,

May We Be Them,

May We Raise Them and

May we Vote for them."