Now SNP gender rebels savage Swinney and Sturgeon following bombshell ruling
Nationalist MSP Michelle Thomson said the serving and former First Ministers should say sorry to women who had to 'fight tooth and nail' for the right to single-sex spaces.
Former SNP minister Fergus Ewing also demanded an apology from the pair and called for them to admit they got the approach to gender self-ID wrong.
He also insisted that other Nationalist MSPs share his views but are afraid to speak out for fear of deselection. It comes just days after Ms Sturgeon remained defiant on her approach to gender reform and refused to apologise to feminists who won the landmark Supreme Court case.
Ms Thomson, MSP for Falkirk East, yesterday issued the call for an apology from Mr Swinney for women 'who have had to fight tooth and nail to retain the rights they already and always had over their single-sex spaces' and also for trans people 'who have been led to believe for quite some time that self-ID gave them an entitlement that is not actually the case'.
She told BBC Radio Scotland that 'the whole situation has ended up in quite the mess', and added: 'Let's be clear, Keir Starmer should also be apologising, Nicola Sturgeon should also be apologising.
'Because people expect government to make clear policies that can be translated into law.
'This has been quite a mess for some time, and has only been cleared up as a result of the ruling by the Supreme Court.'
Mr Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, backed the calls for an apology - and said many other SNP MSPs privately share his concerns but won't speak out for fear of deselection.
He told the Mail: 'Given the fact that the Supreme Court have effectively declared the whole approach of Nicola Sturgeon as contrary to the law then surely an apology should be provided by her. That would display grace and humility.
'Moreover, just look at the huge amount of parliamentary time and effort that Nicola and her supporters devoted to this. There is no other issue that has caused MSPs to sit up into the early hours of the morning. What would Scotland be like if we put the same effort into growing the economy?
'The SNP's loss of trust has been caused by a variety of things but there is no doubt the gender issue is one of the main causes. We have lost three quarters of our MPs, 15 per cent in the opinion polls and 65,000 members of the party - over half. How much worse would it need to be before 'Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney had the good grace to admit that they got gender, the Green deal and grand wheezes - now deserted - all seriously wrong?'
He added: 'I've spoken out because from day one I believed the Green deal and the gender obsession would bring us down. I wish I hadn't been proven right but I have.
'The rest of the (SNP MSP) group? I think many of them privately would agree wholly or in part with what I'm saying but I think many are reluctant to do so for fear of deselection.'
Former SNP MP Joanna Cherry - another vocal critic of the party's approach to gender self-ID - also yesterday shared a message on social media praising Ms Thomson's 'excellent' interview on BBC Good Morning Scotland on the issue after she demanded an apology from Ms Sturgeon and Mr Swinney.
Ms Thomson said: 'There has been a split in the SNP about this, and that goes back some way.'
She called on Mr Swinney to show 'clear leadership' and order public bodies to comply now with the Supreme Court's recent landmark equality ruling on the issue, saying prisons, hospitals, schools and sports could take 'immediate action'.
Asked if Mr Swinney should follow the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's example and confirm 'trans women are not women', she said: 'I would like John Swinney to exhibit very clear leadership.
'He's been quite clear that organisations and the public sector must follow the law, but I think he needs to come out really strongly and warn people that if they do not, they could be subjected to legal action.'
But Mr Swinney, who has repeatedly refused to say sorry, angrily said 'I've said my piece' when asked about Ms Thomson's comments.
He also refused to order any public body to change how it operated, saying they should wait until after official guidance was issued in the summer by the UK equalities regulator.
The First Minister was speaking after addressing union leaders at the STUC congress in Dundee, where he referred to transgender people but failed to mention women in his speech.
He said: 'Let me take this opportunity to reaffirm my Government's commitment to LGBT rights, and specifically the rights of trans men and trans women in our society.
'I know that for trans people, there will be feelings of enormous uncertainty and anxiety at this moment in time, but I am determined to fulfill my obligation that I will act as First Minister to protect the rights of everyone in Scotland.'
Asked later why he didn't mention women, he claimed women in the economy had 'been at the heart of the policy agenda the government is taking forward'.
The UK's highest court ruled unanimously this month that 'biological sex' determines a person's rights under the 2010 Equality Act, not gender choice or paperwork.
It means biological males who identify as women can be excluded from single-sex spaces such as changing rooms, toilets, and rape crisis centres if it is 'proportionate'.
The ruling was a victory for campaigners For Women Scotland who challenged the Scottish Government claim that trans women should have the same rights as biological females.
The UK Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has since said that 'trans women (biological men) should not be permitted to use women's facilities' such as toilets.
But it is expected to take months to consult on and issue fully updated guidance signed off by UK ministers, prompting calls for Mr Swinney to direct public bodies now.
Scottish Conservative equalities spokesman Tess White said: 'John Swinney's shameful failure to apologise to the women of Scotland for the SNP's reckless and unlawful gender self-ID policy is another example of him putting party before country.
'He's still so in thrall to the gender zealots in his party that he can't bring himself to apologise for peddling this fallacy for years, even when the country and sensible Nationalist MSPs like Michelle Thomson are calling for him to do the decent thing.
'Scotland's public bodies, who adopted gender self-ID at the SNP's behest, need strong, unequivocal guidance from ministers in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.
'Instead, they're getting dither and delay from a First Minister focused only on managing his hopelessly divided party.'
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