AN SNP education minister who was sacked less than 24 hours after being promoted has been accused of rewriting history after she suggested she was the victim of political “game-playing”.
Gillian Martin was removed in June over offensive comments she made about transgender people when she was a college lecturer.
In a 2007 blog mocking political correctness in higher education, she referred to “hairy knuckled lipstick-wearing transitional transgender Laydees”.
She also wrote of an EU “tranny trove” of cash, and claimed college public relations staff “froth at the mouth with excitement if anyone in a wheelchair does anything that can be remotely described as an achievement”.
The Aberdeenshire East MSP previously apologised and said she deeply regretted the remarks, describing her language as “inappropriate and offensive”. Nicola Sturgeon said the posts did not reflect the person she knew.
But in an interview with The Press and Journal newspaper, Ms Martin suggested the outcry over her comments was “done to score political points”.
A Scottish Liberal Democrat spokeswoman said she was “attempting to rewrite history”.
She said: “She must take responsibility for the screeds of deeply offensive comments which she, as an adult, chose to write and publicly share over a period of time.
“To suggest she has been the victim in this instance is offensive.”
Scottish Conservative equalities spokeswoman Annie Wells said: “Ms Martin was dumped as a minister because of legitimate concerns about inappropriate language she used.
"She cannot now rewrite history and pretend it never happened.”
Ms Martin lost her job as higher education minister before it was even confirmed in Holyrood, but has now been promoted to convener of the Scottish Parliament's environment, climate change and land reform committee.
In an interview with The Press and Journal, she did not rule out returning to Government if asked, but added that she is “still in a place where I'm delighted to be an MSP and anything else is icing on the cake”.
She said: "From my perspective, I think that a majority of people in this place, although there is game-playing going on in the chamber, know when it is a game and it is something that has been done to score political points, rather than being personal.
"And even those that took things at face value when it happened have since had time to reflect on it and found out about the background, about what I actually was and wasn't.
"I've had nothing but genuine good wishes from across the board, from day one of coming back. I've had tremendous support from all my party colleagues throughout the summer.
"I have also been humbled and delighted by some of the support I've received from others across the chamber, from those who could see it for what it was.”
She added: "I think that people will now give me the time to get on with the new job, I hope, and draw a line under what happened before the summer."
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