A ROW over comments made by Joanna Cherry around conversion therapy has led to calls for the SNP to remove the whip from the Edinburgh South West MP.

The controversy centres on a post Cherry put on Twitter on November 13, in which she appeared to call for conversion therapy to be allowed to remain legal in the case of trans people.

Cherry had shared a story from The Times claiming that the human rights group Stonewall were being allowed to “dictate” policy around trans people.

READ MORE: Expert group to advise Scottish Government on conversion therapy ban

The SNP MP said the piece was “very concerning” as policymakers should hear the full range of opinions from the “clash between sex-based rights and those based on gender identity”.

She then added: “And re conversion therapy which any right thinking person should oppose we must not make it a criminal offence for therapists to try to help patients with gender dysphoria to feel comfortable in their birth sex.

“As we used to say #Somepeoplearegay. #GetoverIt.”

Campaign group End Conversion Therapy Scotland, which has cross-party MSPs and party leaders signed up to its pledge, commented: “We reject absolutely and unequivocally any suggestion that transgender people can be ‘cured’, or that the abusive and harmful practice of conversion therapy has any validity.

“Conversion practices are dangerous, they cause nothing but suffering to those subjected to them.”

READ MORE: Why arguments of 'consent' have no place in Scotland's conversion therapy debate

Patrick Harvie, the Green co-leader and minister, added: “Imagine this was a politician advocating for ‘therapists to try to help’ lesbian or gay people to ‘feel comfortable’ being straight. This is no different. It's indefensible.

“[End Conversion Therapy Scotland] are right - so called conversion therapy is abuse, and that's why we are committed to a ban.”

Others spoke out in support of Cherry, causing the hashtag #IStandWithJoannaCherry to trend on social media.

Among those using the hashtag was Alba MP Neale Hanvey, who accused “the plotters [of] gunning for the ‘Best Scot at Westminster’”.

Cherry herself also used it, writing in a tweet on Tuesday: “Thank you to everyone who has tweeted or messaged their support overnight.

“I promise I will continue to stand up for the rights of women and girls and same-sex attracted people and I won’t give into bullying, harassment or intimidation. #IStandWithJoannaCherry”

One argument retweeted by Hanvey claims that “conversion therapy” applies to “trying to change a sexual orientation”, which they label “a pointless, harmful waste of time”.

However, they say that “helping someone accept their body ... is a healthy, good thing”.

“The first is gay 'conversion therapy'. The second is actual therapy. These are not the same thing.”

The National:

This argument contradicts several authoritative definitions of conversion therapy.

A report presented to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in 2020 defines conversion therapy as an “umbrella term used to describe interventions of a wide-ranging nature, all of which have in common the belief that a person's sexual orientation or gender identity can and should be changed”.

It goes on: “Such practices aim (or claim to aim) at changing people from gay, lesbian or bisexual to heterosexual and from trans or gender diverse to cisgender.”

The NHS website describes gender dysphoria as “a sense of unease that a person may have because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity”.

It makes clear that it is not a mental illness, but says the feeling of dysphoria may become so strong as to trigger other mental illnesses.

READ MORE: Conversion therapy ban is not enough, UN advisor tells MSPs

The SNP’s 2021 manifesto said there is “no place for conversion therapy” in Scotland. It also said it supported the UK Government’s LGBT Action Plan.

This action plan, published in 2018, said it wanted to “end the practice of conversion therapy in the UK”. The ministerial foreword makes clear this is a “universal” pledge which includes efforts to change people’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

The row over Cherry’s comments, which are apparently at odds with the SNP’s manifesto pledge, has led to several groups within the party calling for her to have the whip removed.

Young Scots for Independence (YSI) said conversion therapy is “harmful and discrimatory” and said that any “who believe in it have no place in our party”.

The group, which is the SNP’s affiliated youth wing, called for an independent investigation into transphobia in the party.

Those calls were echoed by Out for Independence, the party’s LGBT wing, which also called for “the removal of the SNP whip from Joanna Cherry MP”.

SNP Students, the party’s official student wing, further added their support to those calls, saying in a statement that Cherry seemed “content to undermine the party and the leadership”.

Responding, Cherry told The Scotsman: “The Scottish National Party has a long history of intellectual rigour and open debate and I trust that will continue, notwithstanding the personalised attacks and misrepresentation by some in my party. Sadly, calm and rational discussion has been missing from this area of public policy for too long.

“Last night I attended a debate hosted by the Middle Temple where representatives of Stonewall, gender critical feminists and the LGB Alliance held a respectful and engaging debate on the problems raised by draft proposals on banning conversion therapy.

"As a lesbian I welcome the ban on conversion therapy as it is conventionally understood. However, I share the concerns of many that the inclusion of the concept of ‘gender identity’ in the UK Government bill risks threatening professionals working with children and vulnerable people who are having issues with their gender if they seek to explore with them the reasons for their distress.”

The SNP has been approached for comment.