Being transgender is not the most interesting thing about me, says Green MSP

A Scottish Green MSP has said being transgender has “never been the most interesting thing about my life”, as she described facing “upsetting” abuse online.

After the Holyrood election in May, Iris Duane made history alongside her party colleague Q Mannivanan as the first openly transgender MSPs in the Scottish Parliament.

However Ms Duane said it is a “shame” some people have focused on her identity rather than what she will bring to Parliament as Glasgow region MSP.

She said: “There are 65 new MSPs. We’re all very much going with the flow… and yes, I am transgender, but that’s never been the most interesting thing about my life, and often isn’t something that comes into everyday life.

“Of course, some people have chosen to focus on that, which I think is a shame.

“We all have lots of different experiences and lots of different talents to bring to this Parliament, and I’m really looking forward to delivering that over the next five years that I have.”

In the days after the election, the Greens said abuse directed towards its new MSPs had been “disgraceful”.

The party has said: “Trans people in particular have been targeted and abused as part of a cynical culture war that has been encouraged by other parties and parts of the media.”

Ms Duane said: “I think it was quite difficult to know that individuals that don’t know me or don’t know my values or don’t know where I stood for, wanted to bring so much harm upon myself, and that was quite upsetting.”

However she said it had not affected her overall experience at Holyrood so far, adding: “I have had such a positive and welcoming environment in person.

“First of all, nobody mentions it in real life very often, and those that do thank me for being in politics and are very, very happy to see me there.”

Her election has come as the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has issued new guidance clarifying that single-sex space, such as toilets, changing rooms, and hospital wards, should generally be operated based on biological sex rather than acquired gender.

Service providers will now be allowed to exclude trans people from single-sex spaces if they decide other users could “object” to the presence of a trans person.

The changes to the EHRC guidelines are a result of the Supreme Court ruling in April 2025 after For Women Scotland brought the case forward.

Ms Duane said the new guidelines “are going to impact all trans people across the UK”.

She continued: “I think it’s really disappointing that we’ve seen stuff like this guidance come into place when the UK Government didn’t need to do as such.

“It will make the UK more unfriendly for not just trans people but for everyone, as the code itself said, essentially, if someone is perceived to potentially be transgender or not of the sex that you’re identifying them with, they can be challenged. Which of course, there is no verifiable way to do so.”

Ms Duane celebrated her graduation from the University of Glasgow this summer after studying politics and social policy.

At 23, she is one of the youngest parliamentarians in the UK.

She has been assigned the role of spokeswoman for tertiary education and housing for the Greens and has pledged to hold the Government to account over the ongoing housing emergency.

She said: “There are people in this country that are waiting more than 10 years to get a social home.

“There are homeless people, there are people who are in temporary accommodation that’s unfit for them, there are lots of families in these situations as well, and it’s really destroying lives.

“I understand that this is a challenging physical environment and I will never push that away, but we need to understand that housing is a human right, and everyone deserves a good house.

“I will be absolutely challenging the Government where appropriate to ensure that we get more houses built, that houses are cheaper, and that our rented sector is accessible to everyone.”

The Greens won a further seven seats in May and now have 15 MSPs, while newcomers Reform won 17 seats.

Ms Duane said: “The political climate has changed, and I think we absolutely need to acknowledge that.

“People are now exploring what it means to vote differently, especially in an age of social media where you can get information on various things at different times.

“I think it says that people are tired with the establishment parties and that they’re really looking for something different.”