Letters / ‘We must not be divided’
Freedom is never a given. All the rights we enjoy today: the right to love who we love, to speak out against injustice, to live authentically, were fought for over generations and often at great personal cost. These rights are precious, and they must be protected.
Today, we are witnessing a rising trend that should cause alarm; the growing use of transphobia as a political weapon. Across the world, far right movements have used fear and misinformation about trans people to chip away at broader human rights. It starts with vilifying a small, marginalised group, but it never ends there.
When a society normalises the dehumanisation of any group, it erodes the fundamental principles that protect us all. Authoritarianism thrives on rigid gender roles, enforced conformity, and the silencing of difference.
It demands obedience, not freedom. It punishes minorities, disabled people, queer people, human rights and climate activists, anyone who dares to live authentically or to challenge injustice.
As reported by Amnesty International, ‘The toxic media coverage about trans people has recently spiked. At times of crisis and political change, marginalised groups are often singled out for abuse and hate’.
While Liberty, the human rights organisation, highlighted that ‘Key voices are missing – trans and non-binary people, and in particular young trans people. They are so often spoken about, not listened to’.
This exclusion was starkly illustrated by the recent UK Supreme Court ruling, in which three male judges defined what it means to be a woman, without any female representation in the decision-making process. Such a ruling represents not a triumph for women’s rights, but a reinforcement of patriarchal authority.
We cannot allow moral panic or manufactured outrage to be used as a smokescreen to strip away our shared rights. The freedom to exist, to love, to protest, to participate in democracy, these belong to all of us, and their defence must unite us.
The Scottish Green Party stands unequivocally with trans people, with all marginalised communities, and with everyone committed to building a society based on dignity, equality, and freedom. We must not be divided; our futures and the future of our planet are intrinsically linked.
Amy Garrick-Wright
Shetland Greens co-convenor
Zara Pennington
Shetland Greens
