An “army of women” has formed to fight Nicola Sturgeon’s transgender reforms after being ostracised by established feminist groups, a study has found.

The author of new research, published in the respected Scottish Affairs journal, said a determined grassroots movement was growing and attracting women from across Scotland’s usually rigid constitutional divide.

Ms Sturgeon has repeatedly dismissed fears that her plan to allow Scots to “self-declare” their own gender without a doctors’ approval poses a risk to the rights and safety of women.

However, Sarah Pedersen, professor in communication and media at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, said the First Minister faced a major battle with campaigners, including politicians and activists from her own party, who were horrified at her policy.

Opposition has been galvanised by prominent figures such as JK Rowling and women have formed their own support networks to back each other up when they come under attack online from trans rights campaigners, the study reveals.

Movement ‘cuts across the unionist/nationalist divide’

Many of the volunteer activists are women aged over 40 with a history of feminist activism, but the issue was increasingly “cutting through” with the general public, Prof Pedersen said.

“This movement is unique in several ways,” Prof Pedersen said. “It’s all women, and they’ve come together from all the different political groups and parties. It cuts across the unionist/nationalist divide.

“All of the women are almost in despair at the established women’s groups in Scotland. So all these new groups have come out of nowhere, which is quite amazing, run by busy women during the evenings and weekends. 

“They see this as being so far-reaching, that it threatens all of the achievements women have made, in work, in school, in sport. They see the issue as all encompassing.

“And for both well-known names and normal people on social media, they now feel there is an army that will support them.”

Prof Pedersen based her findings on 18 interviews with activists, politicians, writers and journalists who had become part of the movement. 

Many were initially supportive of reform, as they were instinctively sympathetic to transgender people, but changed their positions once they began to research the implications of the SNP plans on women’s sex-based rights.

One said she had not initially realised that the position being put forward was that “trans women are literally women”.

Interviewees insisted their identities were kept secret due to fears of a backlash, with some reporting that trans activists had attempted to get them sacked for speaking out previously.

Time lived in ‘acquired gender’ could be reduced from two years to three months

The SNP also wants to reduce the time in which someone must live in their “acquired gender” from two years to three months to obtain a legal change and open up the process to 16 and 17-year-olds.

Opponents believe the reforms would redefine the meaning of sex, threaten women’s rights and create a system open to abuse by male sexual predators.

However, established feminist groups in Scotland, such as Engender, Rape Crisis Scotland and Scottish Women’s Aid, have backed reform. The groups are reliant on the Scottish Government for their funding.

“There is a real feeling of being let down by the groups, that their voices were being dismissed as transphobic,” Prof Pedersen said.

“These are women who throughout their lives have supported organisations like the Labour Party or SNP, they’ve supported the BBC and read The Guardian, they were members of trade unions.  

“They’ve turned to these organisations, and it’s been a real shock to find they’re being denounced by the organisations they support.”

Those in favour of reform claim the current process for obtaining a gender recognition certificate is unnecessarily costly, difficult and humiliating.

Engender and Scottish Women’s Aid declined to comment. Rape Crisis Scotland did not respond.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We appreciate the range of strongly held views on reform of the Gender Recognition Act 2004, from both sides, and therefore have always been keen to seek consensus where possible and to work to support respectful debate.

“We will continue to uphold the rights and protections that women and girls currently have under the Equality Act.”