In Support Of Ash Regan's Gender Courage

 

Before discussing much about Ash Regan's, let's discuss the bio of our hero first

A Scottish politician named Ashten Regan (previously Denham; born 8 March 1974) held the position of Minister for Community Safety from 2018 until 2022, when she resigned in opposition to the Gender Recognition Act. She is a supporter of the Scottish National Party (SNP), and she has served as the Edinburgh Eastern MSP since 2016. 

Early life

 On March 8, 1974, Ashten Regan was born in Glasgow, where her Protestant mother and Catholic father ran a kilt store on Sauchiehall Street.  Prior to her family relocating to England, Regan attended primary school in Scotland. She grew up in Biggar and later relocated to Devon to attend a sixth form college. 

Education

From 1992 to 1995, Regan studied in England at Keele University, earning a BA in International Relations. She worked as a writer for Keele University Students' Union's Concourse Magazine. Later, she attended the London School of Public Relations and graduated with a diploma in public relations. Regan enrolled in the Open University's Development Management program in 2007 and graduated with an MSc in 2012.

initial career

Regan spent three years as a PR and marketing officer at ScottClem following her graduation from Keele University. Later, she worked as a Senior Account Executive at Spreckley Partners before joining Zinc Management as an Events Executive in late 2002. Regan worked at Rocket PR as an account manager from December 2002 to August 2003. 

Following her graduation from OU in October 2012, she worked remotely at Tearfund in the department of digital marketing. Before being elected to Holyrood, Regan returned to Scotland and took a position as the Common Weal Scotland's Head of Campaigns and Advocacy.

early interest in politics

Regan was asked about her thoughts on the 2014 Scottish independence vote at a dinner gathering in 2012. Regan's then-husband, who was born in England, had believed she would vote "No," but after doing some research, she discovered that she was more inclined to support the "Yes" side. 

Regan became involved in the Women for Independence and the Yes Scotland movement. She was chosen to join the Women for Independence national committee in January 2014.  She remembered having "very strong feelings about Scotland becoming an independent country - I believed the arguments were really compelling and I wanted Scotland to have greater democratic choice."  Regan worked as the YES Scottish Borders' events coordinator.

Voting for Holyrood

Official parliamentary portrait of Regan from 2016.Regan joined the Scottish National Party after the Yes Scotland campaign lost the referendum. After the incumbent MSP Kenny MacAskill said in June that he would not seek reelection, she was chosen as the SNP candidate for the Edinburgh Eastern constituency in the impending 2016 Scottish Parliament elections in August 2015.  Kezia Dugdale, the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, was defeated in her election.

Backbencher

She was hired in June 2016 to serve as the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism, and External Affairs' Parliamentary Liaison Officer.

 She served on the Finance and Constitution Committee as well as the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee. She transferred to the Health and Sport Committee from the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee in November 2017, where she was appointed deputy convener.

Ministry of community safety (2018–2022)

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon declared she would restructure her second government's cabinet on June 27, 2018. Regan succeeded Annabelle Ewing as the Minister for Community Safety under Sturgeon.

Regan was one of 15 SNP lawmakers who signed a letter to the Scottish government in April 2019 urging it to postpone changes to the Gender Recognition Act that would make it simpler for transgender persons to legally change their gender.  Later that month, Nicola Sturgeon was accused of being out of sync with the SNP party in a leaked correspondence between Regan and SNP lawmakers Gillian Martin and Ruth Maguire. 

In June 2019, it was revealed that some of her former employees had signed non-disclosure agreements and received payoffs totaling thousands of pounds.

Regan was re-elected in the Scottish elections of 2021, improving her vote share by more than 8,000.  Regan was reappointed by Sturgeon as minister of community safety in the Third Sturgeon administration.

Regan announced her resignation on October 27, 2022, expressing her disapproval of the Scottish Government's backing of the Gender Recognition Reform Bill.

 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accepted Regan's resignation, noting that Regan had not spoken with her or the cabinet secretary in charge of the legislation to express those concerns.

Private life

Regan is a mother to twin sons. She was once known as Ash Denham and is divorced. 

The brave

It was not an easy decision for Ash Regan to step down as Nicola Sturgeon's minister of community safety. Stage one of the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which Sturgeon championed and which will make it simpler to obtain a gender recognition certificate and lower the required age to 16 as well as remove medical experts from the process, was approved by the Scottish parliament today. In her letter of resignation, Regan informed Sturgeon that "my conscience will not enable me to vote with the government."

A small group of SNP lawmakers, including Regan, issued an open letter in 2019 warning ministers that changing the definition of male and female is a matter of significant significance. We should take our time and not rush. Supporters of Sturgeon's proposals claim that the changes will just clarify the law and make the system more accommodating to transgender people's demands. Conflating sex and gender, according to opponents, will damage government statistics as well as the delivery of health, social, and justice services.

The idea that some government backbenchers may reject the whip and vote against the government this afternoon is also almost unheard of, as is an SNP minister resigning out of principle. Even though it happens frequently at Westminster, the SNP's strict rules infrequently permit disagreement or even conscience voting. It is a sign of how passionately some people feel about this policy and how it came to be.

Editor of Holyrood magazine and prominent figure in Scottish politics Mandy Rhodes recently bemoaned the excessive influence of lobby groups in determining public policy on these issues. She penned:

One day, it's reasonable to wonder why MPs and MSPs, who were elected to represent everyone, choose to speak just to and for a small group of people instead of representing the many.

Opponents of gender identity politics believe that Scottish ministers and civil workers have been institutionally taken over by a regressive ideology that passes for pleasant, progressive, and accepting. Since it is difficult to imagine Sturgeon's Bill failing to advance, it is likely to become law. At what price, is the real question.

As a result of her refusal to follow the rules, Ash Regan can anticipate hearing many derogatory remarks. There is no doubt that what she has done is a real act of conscience, even though I don't hold a brief for her and disagree with her on independence and many other issues. She was one of the rising stars of the 2016 induction class, which saw several independence referendum supporters become SNP MSPs at Holyrood. The ministerial position Regan recently left may be the last one she holds while Sturgeon is First Minister since the SNP leader is slow to forgive and has fully embraced the gender identity concept.

What this means for Kate Forbes, Sturgeon's finance secretary and someone who was once considered a prospective SNP leader, is one concern her resignation raises. The same 2019 letter was signed by Forbes, a devout Christian, and she has received similar criticism from her party's ranks. Although she is now on maternity leave, voting on later phases of this Bill will be held.

As a result, Regan retires to the opposition benches and the Gender Recognition Reform Bill advances. It seems improbable that her enemies—who don't see themselves as merely opponents—will sympathize with her situation given how bitterly divisive this discussion is. They should. Instead of doing what she feels is wrong, she has boosted her own political career. You should be able to accept her honesty even if you disagree with her conclusions because those who voted against her were acting on their conscience. The distinction is that Ash Regan has had to pay dearly for her moral convictions.

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