SNP faces pressure over candidate who mocked EU ‘tranny trove’
The Scottish National Party is facing pressure to ditch a candidate who mocked a ātranny troveā of EU diversity funding.
Gillian Martin is the partyās candidate in Aberdeenshire East in the upcoming Scottish Parliament elections, running to hold the seat of the partyās former leader Alex Salmond.
However, the party has faced questions about her future this week after the Mail exposed some of the comments made by Ms Martin on her blog.
In blog posts dating back several years, Ms Martin mocked an EU survey asking students to answer questions about gender identity, claiming it was sitting on a ātranny troveā of cash.
Elsewhere she referred to Mr Salmond as a āsmug gitā, and branded the royal family an āinbred bunch of dysfunctionalsā.
Despite the comments, a spokesperson for the party ducked pressure to condemn the candidate.
An SNP spokesperson said: āMany of the posts stem from almost a decade ago ā at which point Gillian wasnāt even an SNP member.
āPeople in Aberdeenshire East care about how Gillian plans to stand up for them at Holyrood, not about some out-of-context entries from a 10-year-old blog.ā
However, Lib Dem candidate Christine Jardine responded: āI am absolutely astonished that the SNP could endorse such views from a candidate.
āFor Ms Martin to describe the EU as a ātranny troveā is outrageous. It is an offensive comment for which voters in Aberdeenshire East, particularly the LGBTi community, demand an explanation.
She added: āThe people of Aberdeenshire East deserve an MSP who will represent their views responsibly and with respect for all sections of the community.
āWe all deserve explanations both from Ms Martin and from the SNP as to why they think this type of disrespect is acceptable.ā
Stonewall Scotland questioned the ācasual transphobia in Gillian Martinās commentsā and urged her to āpublicly supportā trans and LGB equality.
