The Edinburgh Fringe has a reputation for allowing performers to push almost any boundary they wish. So it seemed strange when one of the capital’s best known venues announced it was cancelling a planned talk show featuring an SNP MP.
By Fringe standards, Joanna Cherry’s appearance in August would be a reserved and serious affair. It quickly became apparent some staff at The Stand simply didn’t want to work on a show featuring a politician with a reputation for speaking her mind.
Cherry has been a vocal critic of the Scottish Government’s gender recognition reforms. Despite being a supporter of trans rights, many of her critics have repeatedly branded her transphobic.
The Stand faced a mounting backlash as well as a potential legal action. So it’s welcome the venue has now apologised and the MP’s appearance will go ahead as planned.
If this debate is to rise above the current toxic level, it will need civilised input from all sides. Cherry can’t be cancelled just because she takes a different view from others.
It’s up to those on all sides to engage in a civilised debate about the trans issue which respects everyone involved. Nobody should be silenced. And nobody’s rights should be removed.
Cherry’s show will almost certainly be a sell-out given the publicity it has received. Let’s hope this can be a positive example of respecting people’s right to freedom of speech.
Boys Don good
Aberdeen’s victory over Real Madrid in the European Cup-Winners’ Cup final 40 years ago was one of the greatest moments in the history of Scottish football. For a homegrown team to humble the Spanish giants was a fairytale that could not have been scripted.
They remain the only team to have ever beaten the legendary Madrid side in a European final. It is sometimes overlooked that Aberdeen defeated another of the great European teams, Bayern Munich, en route to lifting the trophy. So it is fitting that the heroes who brought back European silverware to Aberdeen in 1983 were finally handed the freedom of the city this week.
The only real question was: why has it taken so long? Almost 3000 fans watched as legends like former skipper Willie Miller and super-sub John Hewitt, who scored the winning goal, were honoured.
Aberdeen were the last Scottish team to win a European competition and the only club to win two after going on to lift the European Super Cup. Football fans, regardless of affiliation, should salute this incredible achievement.
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