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MP Joanna Cherry's Fringe show to go ahead after trans row

Getty Images Joanna CherryGetty Images
SNP MP Joanna Cherry had said she would take legal action against The Stand if neccesary

The comedy club which cancelled a Fringe show by SNP MP Joanna Cherry has reinstated the event.

The Stand had cancelled the show after staff said they were not comfortable with her views on transgender issues.

But the venue has now said the decision was "unfair and constituted unlawful discrimination against Ms Cherry".

Ms Cherry said it was a "very welcome move by The Stand" and confirmed she will take part in August's event as originally planned.

The Stand said it had taken legal advice and now accepted it had got its original decision wrong.

In a statement, the club said it "publicly and unreservedly apologise to Ms Cherry".

It added: "We have always been clear that we oppose all forms of discrimination and recognise the rights of individuals to air views with which we may disagree.

"We hope that this apology draws a line under this episode."

Ms Cherry welcomed the apology and confirmed she will take part in the event.

She told BBC Radio Scotland Drivetime: "I didn't want to have to take legal action here and this was never about money.

"But the fact that The Stand have fully and frankly accepted that cancelling the event on account of my philosophical views as a lesbian and a feminist was unlawful, I really hope that's going to benefit other women, and indeed men."

Ms Cherry added she hoped the U-turn would discourage discrimination "against people like me" - who she said fully support equal rights for trans people but "don't believe that any man should be able to self identify as a woman".

VisitScotland Stand Comedy Club, EdinburghVisitScotland
The Stand previously said some of its staff were unwilling to work at the event

The Stand - which was co-founded by SNP MP Tommy Sheppard - has said it will donate its share of the profit from the event to the Edinburgh Food Project charity.

It added that management of the event will be discussed with its staff in the coming weeks.

Mr Sheppard, who sits on the venue's board and is believed to be one of a number of shareholders, said it would be wrong to characterise it as a dispute between him and Ms Cherry.

Ms Cherry was booked to take part in a series of In Conversation With... events with public figures in August.

The Edinburgh South West MP is a critic of Scotland's gender recognition reform plans, which make it easier for people to change their legally-recognised sex.

The MP previously said she felt she had been "cancelled and no-platformed" because she was a lesbian who holds gender-critical views, and had vowed to take "whatever legal action is necessary" unless The Stand admitted that it acted unlawfully, issued an apology and reinstated the event.

The Stand has released a copy of the letter its legal team sent to Ms Cherry.

The Scottish Events Campus in Glasgow was ordered to pay almost £100,000 in damages to a controversial evangelical US preacher after axing his event in 2020.

Franklin Graham's appearance at the Hydro was scrapped following pressure from Glasgow City Council, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie and campaigners over his views on issues such as homosexuality, Islam and Donald Trump.