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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   32567 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 13, 2023

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Nicola Sturgeon says time is right to resign as Scotland's first minister

Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that she is resigning as Scotland's first minister after more than eight years in the role.

Ms Sturgeon said her decision was not a reaction to short-term pressures, but came from "a deeper and longer-term assessment".

According to her, this was a decision long in the making and not a response to current events.

Personally, I think they had something to do with it (even if just in a "straw that broke the camel's back). She suffered twin defeats of having the UK government strike down her self-ID bill on the grounds that it'd violate equal rights protections and somehow ending up looking reasonable (usually "nationalists" will oppose such a thing on principle, at least that is my experience with Quebec*), in part due to the possibility of the other disaster: a male rapist suddenly identifying as a woman and trying to get into a female prison.

AKA that thing we were told would never happen.

For many, this was a bridge too far and the backlash was intense. While she and her team did try to mitigate the damage by pointing out that he was still being assessed, it didn't seem to comfort (for me: even the need for a risk assessment is silly) Sturgeon herself was grilled and tied herself in knots trying to tread some middle ground between her ideological commitments and mollifying people who thought the whole thing was a bridge too far (attempts by SNP boosters to dodge the question by saying "this person is a rapist" apparently didn't work)

To me this highlights two things: the hollowness of a nationalism based on "we're more progressive than you" as opposed to the good old blood and soil stuff that is apparently verboten now that everyone wants to plug themselves into some larger cosmopolitan, neoliberal bloc or to ingratiate themselves to American companies and culture (e.g. Ireland).

Everyone can understand "we're a distinct nation with a particular history that converged with but is not identical to the greater state's". Basing nationalism on progressive policy is silly because it's both incoherent (said policy is inimical to nationalism) and is liable to overreach because being progressive is an ever shifting target.

Second point: the fact that trans activists were right. Their greatest successes come when they can roll the elites into believing their cause is just an inevitable extension of existing rights and they can bypass the public. As Joyce put it:

All this explains the speed. When you want new laws, you can focus on lobbying, rather than the painstaking business of building broad-based coalitions. And when those laws will take away other people’s rights, it is not only unnecessary to build public awareness – it is imperative to keep the public in the dark. This stealthy approach has been central to transactivism for quite some time.

In a speech in 2013, Masen Davis, then the executive director of the American Transgender Law Center, told supporters that ‘we have largely achieved our successes by flying under the radar . . . We do a lot really quietly. We have made some of our biggest gains that nobody has noticed. We are very quiet and thoughtful about what we do, because we want to make sure we have the win more than we want to have the publicity.’

The result is predictable. Even as one country after another introduces gender self-ID, very few voters know this is happening, let alone support it.

A poll in Scotland in 2020 suggests that even young women, the demographic keenest on gender self-ID, become cooler when reminded of the practical implications.

Joyce, Helen. Trans: Gender Identity and the New Battle for Women's Rights (p. 227).

Well, the public is like an elephant. They'll mostly follow the rider's instructions. Until you alarm them. Took a while but it eventually happened. Sturgeon had the easiest job in politics: just keep running and blame the UK. That's all she had to do. And she somehow bungled that. This topic is toxic for everyone.

* There is an argument that Sturgeon's real sin here was not triggering overt action from the UK - in fact, that might have been seen as helpful for raising nationalist sentiment- but picking a case so absurd that it made it palatable. That is the real failure of a nationalist politician here, and perhaps why she's gone.

Yeah, I think the two recent trans cases and the fumbling she did over them ("the guy is not really trans but if he is then she will be going to men's jail") was really bad. I'm surprised by this announcement, though. I do wonder if there is more behind the scenes that we will find out about.

EDIT: Whoops, I miscounted. There were three recent cases, after Scotland made a big deal out of passing the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which put a pause on "putting trans women who have been convicted of violent sex crimes committed while still identifying as male into women's prisons":

(1) Isla Bryson who at least has made an attempt to pass; rapist/sex offender

(2) Tiffany Scott - the photo is from 2017 so no idea what she looks like now; another violent sex offender

(3) Andrew Miller who may or may not also be Amy George, seems to have two separate online identities (one male, one female) and has been charged in connection with the disappearance of an eleven year old girl (who has been found)

I'm surprised by this announcement, though.

Yeah. I won't deny that I saw some people digging her grave but I thought it was just wishful thinking. She is an institution.

I do wonder if there is more behind the scenes that we will find out about.

Maybe. I like the theory - edited to add to my post - that she was fine starting conflict with the "tyrannical UK stopping Scotland from having self-determination" but she picked such an awful case that now she has to go. Because she's tainted that argument with a hugely unpopular thing and she's the face of both. Maybe if Sturgeon goes, the thinking may be, they can reset and pick the fight another time.

but she picked such an awful case that now she has to go. Because she's tainted that argument with a hugely unpopular thing and she's the face of both

It's also worth considering that she might have had to go because she was insufficiently zealous in her support of that case. We can't assume that those responsible for her ousting share the same understanding of what is sensible and reasonable as we do.

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