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Former SNP MP Joanna Cherry has hit back at Nicola Sturgeon \u2013 telling the ex Scottish first minister she is \u201cnot obsessed\u201d with her and is open about her sexuality.<\/p>\n
Ms Cherry said the former SNP leader \u2013 who is now living in London \u2013 \u201cflirts and teases us with the idea that she might be a lesbian\u201d.<\/p>\n
Appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this weekend, the former first minister had described Ms Cherry\u2019s book on her experiences in the SNP as \u201cshit\u201d.<\/p>\n
Asked if she had read it, Ms Sturgeon told host Iain Dale \u201cf*** off\u201d as she accused the one-time MP \u2013 who is now back working as a lawyer \u2013 of having an \u201cobsession\u201d with her.<\/p>\n
Ms Cherry KC, who was appearing at the Fringe with Mr Dale on Monday, said: \u201cDon\u2019t worry Nicola, I\u2019m not obsessed by you. Unlike you, I have a very happy and meaningful career to fall back on.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd also, perhaps in contrast to her, I have a very strong and happy relationship with my girlfriend, and I am open about my sexuality, and have been for a very long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her memoir Frankly, published last year, Ms Sturgeon\u00a0said she had never considered her sexuality to be binary.<\/p>\n
Ms Cherry said the former first minister \u201cflirts with the subject\u201d and \u201cgoes on gay pride marches\u201d.<\/p>\n
But the former MP said the policy of self ID for trans people, which was pursued by Ms Sturgeon when she was in power, had impacted on the gay and lesbian community.<\/p>\n
She went on to tell an audience at the EICC: \u201cAs she flirts and teases us with the idea that she might be a lesbian, what I would say to her is you need to think about what you owe the generations of lesbians and gay men who fought so it was acceptable in this country, Scotland and the United Kingdom, to be gay and to have equal rights. To realise our protections under the Equalities Act are just as important as those of trans people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Cherry stressed that \u201cwhen it comes to people\u2019s personal lives and sexuality, I think people are entitled to privacy, and I think Nicola is entitled to privacy\u201d.<\/p>\n
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