POLICE have been alerted to what Joanna Cherry said was a threat made against her during a social media storm in which she was accused of dismissing concerns about trans suicides.
The SNP MP posted a screenshot of a Twitter user responding to a picture of her face with the comment: “I’d kill her with my bare hands if I saw her [in real life]”.
She and Alba MP Neale Hanvey were seen putting their heads in their hands in viral clips of SNP MP Kirsty Blackman during a Commons debate discussing the definition of sex in the Equality Act.
MPs were considering two petitions: one which called for the Equality Act to be changed so trans women would still be considered male in certain contexts relating to areas where sex-based discrimination was allowed, and another one calling for the act to be left as it is – allowing legal sex to be changed with a Gender Recognition Certificate.
Cherry said her body language was in response to claims that gender-critical feminists were causing trans people to consider taking their own lives.
They came in for criticism over their reactions to Blackman’s speech, during which she accused those opposed to self-identification of failing to provide a good definition of biological sex.
Self-identification is the principle that trans people can live as their preferred gender without the need for this to be confirmed by medical professionals or legal documentation.
Vile responses from Joanna Cherry, Rosie Duffield and Neale Hanvey to Kirsty Blackman quoting a trans constituent. pic.twitter.com/wXKYqXqoPO
— Jordan (@JordanPfot) June 12, 2023
Posting an image of the threat, Cherry said: “Thank you to everyone who has drawn this threat to my attention. It’s been reported.
“It’s a regular occurrence whenever I speak about protecting women’s or lesbian rights no matter the lengths I go to to underline my support for equal rights for trans people.”
During her speech, Blackman supported the petition to keep the Equality Act’s definition of sex as it is now.
Drawing attention to what she said were the mental health problems caused by ongoing debate about the rights of trans people, she quoted a trans person as saying: “What hope is left? Should I just kill myself now and be done with it? They will not rest until trans people are excluded from public life.”
Cherry can be heard in the clip saying: “What rubbish.”
In the same clip, Hanvey can be seen recoiling and making a face.
Ellie Gomersall (below), the president of NUS Scotland, posted the clip, accusing the MPs of “reprehensible transphobia”.
She wrote: “Next time they try and talk about ‘legitimate concerns’, show them this.
“Reprehensible transphobia from Cherry, [Labour MP Rosie] Duffield and Hanvey. They're not even trying to hide it anymore.”
Cherry told The National she supported “clarifying” the Equality Act and added that she supported the right to protection against discrimination on the basis of being trans, adding: “The protected characteristic of gender reassignment is widely drawn - and rightly so. It is rightly not confined to those who have undergone medical treatment or those who have a Gender Recognition Certificate.
"All transgender people are protected against discrimination on the grounds of gender reassignment. That is right, and there is no intention to remove that protection. I would not support any petition that did that.”
She added: "Later my body language indicated my disapproval of claims that those of us supporting the clarification petition are causing trans people to have suicidal ideation and ‘will not rest until trans people are excluded from public life’.
“Raising suicide threats as a response to legitimate debate in Parliament is irresponsible. So is the suggestion that those parliamentarians who support the clarification of the Equality Act want to exclude trans people from public life. It is also untrue and in clear contradiction of what was said in the rest of the debate.
“My reactions to what was said should be understood against the background of repeated attempts to misrepresent my views on these matters. Ellie Gomersall is just one of many trans right activists who frequently attack me as transphobic without any basis for their claims and in direct contradiction of what I have said.
“Their misrepresentations have consequences for me including threats of violence such as the one on Twitter yesterday which has been reported to the appropriate parliamentary authorities and the police.
“I want to be very clear with Ellie Gomersall and anyone else seeking to attack or misrepresent me after yesterday’s debate that they will not intimidate me out of my advocacy for the rights of women and lesbians under the Equality Act.”
Hanvey went on: "The continual misrepresentation of gender-critical views, which are protected in law, as being transphobic is unacceptable.
“The lesson is that actions have consequences. No person and no MP, on either side of this debate, should face harassment, intimidation or death threats for expressing their views or legitimate concerns as part of a debate about proposed legislation.
“This inappropriate and coercive behaviour has to end. It is not just those keyboard warriors making death threats who should be held to account for their actions but those who are promoting the idea that people, who oppose Gender self-identification, including trans people, as being transphobic.
“As I said yesterday, if equalities legislation is to protect anyone, the language used must have the precision to clearly describe everyone.
“This has to stop. Enough is enough.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: "On Tuesday, June 13 the Met was made aware of a tweet received by a serving MP.
"The contents were assessed and it was deemed this did not meet the criminal threshold for an offence.
"The tweet has been logged for intelligence purposes and shared with security partners."
