The Women

(Hardback)

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On Valentine's Day, 2018, a group of women gathered in Edinburgh's Drill Hall to discuss their concerns about the SNP government's plans to legislate for self-ID - where a person can change their sex for most legal purposes by simple declaration. Most of the women had never been involved in political campaigns before, but they were worried about the impact self-ID would have on women and determined to make their voices heard. What followed was unparalleled in Scotland's recent history. A grassroots movement, its growth accelerated by Twitter, emerged energised from that first meeting. Women of all ages united in their determination to stand up for women's sex-based rights.

This book, with contributions from many of the women whose views were once dismissed by Nicola Sturgeon as 'not valid', tells the story of an unprecedented grassroots movement that changed the course of Scottish politics, breaking down barriers between political opponents, and uniting novice campaigners, experienced activists and professional politicians in new ways.

Through a collection of essays, first hand testimony, poetry, Tweets and photographs, the authors have captured for the first time a significant period in recent Scottish history- when women from Orkney to Alloa decided they could not - would not - remain silent.

Author Bio

Susan Dalgety is an experienced journalist, with weekly columns in the Scotsman and the Edinburgh Evening News, as well as a contributor to The Spectator, Daily Record, Daily Mail and the Critic. Author of The Spirit of Malawi (published by Luath Press in 2021). Trustee of two international development charities. Adviser to Lord Jack McConnell (a former First Minister of Scotland). Campaigner.

Lucy Hunter Blackburn has been actively involved in researching and campaigning in Scotland on this issue since 2018, as part of MurrayBlackburnMackenzie, a high-impact three-woman team of policy analysts. During that time she has built up extensive contacts across the Scottish grassroots women's movement. She is used to writing for a wide variety of audiences and has been published and interviewed regularly in the national press and broadcast media, including The Times and The Spectator, the current affairs journal, Scottish Affairs, and on BBC.