DOUGLAS Ross has said trans women are not women while discussing his party's local council election manifesto in a grilling on BBC Scotland.
While on BBC Scotland’s The Nine, the leader of the Scottish Tories was commenting on a local election manifesto pledge for councilors to try and ensure there are single-sex spaces available in all council-run facilities.
Presenter Martin Geissler asked Ross: “Just to be clear, single-sex facilities, can trans women use the women’s single-sex facilities?”
Ross replied: “No they can’t”.
The Tory leader was then asked by Geissler if a trans woman was a woman.
READ MORE: Douglas Ross says he 'misspoke' in car crash trans policy interview
Stuttering in his response, Ross said: “No. She is a female, sorry she is a male who has changed her sex but has not changed her gender.”
"Is a trans woman a woman?"
— The Nine (@BBCScotNine) April 26, 2022
"No. She is a male who has changed her sex but she has not changed her gender"#TheNine's @mmgeissler asks @ScotTories leader @Douglas4Moray about his party's local election manifesto pledge to ensure single-sex toilets in all council buildings. pic.twitter.com/TeBrkhN3q5
The comments caused a stir on Twitter, with one user saying: “It’s obviously no surprise that the @ScotTories manifesto is littered with transphobic dog whistles but to see it delivered with such incompetence and ignorance is staggering. Scotland deserves better than this lot and next week’s election will prove it.”
Another said: “Reckon he's been practicing his answer to this & still managed to mess it up.”
Ross also doubled down on his support for Boris Johnson in the interview saying that he was "the right person to lead the response of the UK Government to the ongoing situation in Ukraine".
#TheNine's @mmgeissler asks @ScotTories leader @Douglas4Moray if his u-turn in support of Boris Johnson in light of the war in Ukraine is an act of self-preservation. pic.twitter.com/A98Reot5QN
— The Nine (@BBCScotNine) April 26, 2022
As Geissler continually pressed Ross's position on Boris Johnson's leadership, the presenter said: "What I'm trying to discern is this isn't actually about Ukraine at all. This is about self-preservation for Douglas Ross taking a politically expedient position on a really difficult situation."
On Wednesday, Ross told BBC Good Morning Scotland that he had "misspoken" by confusing sex and gender.
However, he stood by his view on single-sex spaces.
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