Humza Yousaf insisted that "anyone affected" by misogyny would be covered, whatever their biological sex.
He also insisted the Scottish government would not spend an "inordinate" amount of time deciding whether to follow the recommendations of the recent Cass Review into gender care.
The Scottish government wants to introduce a bill to tackle misogyny before the end of the current parliamentary term in 2026, following a review carried out by the human rights lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy KC.
Women were not included in the recent Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 that was introduced on 1 April - a decision that Mr Yousaf said had followed discussions with a number of women's groups.
When asked whether fresh legislation would cover transgender women, Mr Yousaf said that it would, as whoever was directing misogynistic abuse would be unaware if a woman was trans or not.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw59e7dg2nlo
Before everyone gets caried away by the sheer stupidity of the last paragraph quoted above, always remember that both in UK hate crime law and the new Scottish one, the protected characteristic of sex was not included because some feminist groups told the consultation processes that it wasn't needed / wouldn't work.
And yes, I know the ultimate power is the politicians and who they choose to listen to, but there should be some comeback on the women's groups who thought they could speak for all of us based on their personal politics.
So not only is sex, the fact of which is why most women suffer male violence, as a hate crime not available to women who might need it, but it also in law makes the issue of sex seen to be not as important as race, religion, etc..
And these women who presumed to speak to all of us have now opened the door to a law that will treat biological women and trans women as though they are equivilent.