Ash Regan

Ashten Regan (formerly Denham, born Sarah Jane Regan; 8 March 1974) is a Scottish politician. She has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh Eastern since 2016. Initially elected to parliament for the Scottish National Party (SNP), she defected to the Alba Party. Regan served under First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as the minister for community safety from 2018 until she resigned in 2022 in protest against the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill of Sturgeon's government. She identifies with gender-critical feminism.

Ash Regan in 2021

Quotes

• Amendments that could have prevented those on the sex offenders register from obtaining a gender recognition certificate (GRC) and strengthened the law on single sex prison allocation were voted down or withdrawn.
• Violent sex offenders have no place in the women's estate.
  Women's single-sex spaces for privacy, safety or therapeutic purposes are enshrined in the Equality Act 2010. These important protections will be impossible to uphold when anyone can decide they are a woman and have a GRC to prove their legal status.
  • "So many questions on new gender law still need answers", The Times (23 November 2022)
  • See the Wikipedia article on the Isla Bryson case.

• I think it’s welcome, I’m disappointed that unfortunately the Scottish Government has got itself into this mess to begin with, it didn’t have to do that.

• But what I will say, whilst this legislation, which is deeply unpopular with the Scottish public, is blocked for now, what I would like to see is that this legislation is withdrawn and I would like to see the Scottish Government say they will never implement this bill.
  • Comments on The Nine (BBC Scotland), as cited by Lauren Gilmour in "Robison vows 'robust' defence of parliament after gender reform appeal scrapped", The Independent (20 December 2023)
  • The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill had been blocked from receiving Royal assent by the Westminster government using the Section 35 provision of the Scotland Act 1998 as the Equality Act 2010 allows for these issues to be considered a reserved matter.

• The Minister for Equalities must now report to parliament on what steps will be taken to ensure those at the government-funded Rape Crisis Scotland, who presided over the unlawful introduction of males within their single-sex service, are accountable for their part in this damaging dereliction of duty to service users.
  • As cited by Kirsteen Paterson in "Cross-party calls for action over Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre row", Holyrood (13 September 2024)
  • On issues raised by the case of Mridul Wadhwa, former CEO of the Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre. Wadhwa, a transwoman without a Gender Recognition Certificate (and thus legally male) was appointed CEO of the ERCC in 2021. In September 2024, a report commissioned by Rape Crisis Scotland found Wadhwa had "failed to set professional standards of behaviour".