Nicola Sturgeon booed attending International Women's Day event

The demonstrators accused her of “betrayal” by pushing through gender reforms while First Minister, and was subjected to chants of “shame on you” as she attended an SNP event to celebrate the day in Edinburgh.

The protestors held signs which said “women want our stuff back”, “woman = adult human female” and “stop self-ID by the back door”.

First Minister John Swinney also attended the event, but did not face the same angry chants as Ms Sturgeon - Mr Swinney stopped to speak to the demonstrators on his way into the event.

Susan Smith from For Women Scotland said: “Nicola Sturgeon betrayed so many women with her wholehearted embrace of self-ID and her pig-headed demonstration to push gender recognition reform at any cost.

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“Not only did she refuse to talk to critics, she went out of her way to lie about women’s rights activists, including members of her own party, and exposed them to threats of violence.

“Her laughable claim to be a feminist only rubbed salt in the wound.”

She added: “The unlawful self-ID policies introduced in schools, hospitals and elsewhere during her tenure as First Minister have done incalculable damage and now have to be fought in court.

“Chanting ‘shame on you’ is probably a mild expression of the disgust many women feel towards her.”

Ms Sturgeon posted an Instagram story from the event and said: “Lovely to spend International Women’s Day with some SNP women, talking about what feminism and female solidarity really mean.”

As First Minister the Scottish Parliament passed the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which aimed to make it easier for a trans person to legally change their gender.

This included a policy of self-ID, meaning a trans person would not need a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria to apply for a gender recognition certificate.

The bill ended up being blocked by the former Conservative UK Government.

The debate has come back to the forefront after the case of nurse Sandie Peggie, who took Dr Beth Upton and NHS Fife to an employment tribunal. Ms Peggie had been suspended after refusing to share a changing room with Dr Upton, who identifies as a trans woman.