Vet banned lawyer over her gender-critical views
Allison Bailey, a retired criminal defence barrister and co-founder of the LGB Alliance, sued Palmerston Veterinary Group's surgery in Walthamstow, north-east London, after she was 'expelled' from the practice.
The practice claimed she was thrown out for being rude to staff, but the judge rejected the argument, saying she had faced 'unlawful discrimination' because of her beliefs.
Ms Bailey said it was the first case of its kind, showing the courts will stand up for women denied goods and services if they do not believe trans women are women.
'This judgment shows that it is unlawful to deny services to people who believe that sex is binary, biological, immutable, and of vital importance,' she said.
'For too long, activists in a range of settings have promoted the incorrect view that it is somehow good or kind, or in furtherance of trans people's rights, to unlawfully discriminate in this way.'
Ms Bailey has demanded £25,000 compensation. The amount of damages will be decided later.
The surgery claimed the reason Ms Bailey was told not to return was because of its 'zero-tolerance policy' on abusive behaviour towards staff, after she shouted at a practitioner when she was told that one of her pets was overweight.
But Ms Bailey argued in court that she was expelled because her gender-critical views were opposed by Dr Liz Munro, a former staff member at the veterinary practice.
Judge Andrew Holmes said that whilst Ms Bailey 'can be seen by others as being direct to the point of rudeness,' the vet's practice had failed to prove that it's staff were unaware of her views or her friendship with outspoken gender critic Rowling, and that those views played no part in the move to ban her.
'There is strong evidence that Ms Bailey's gender-critical beliefs were known within the practice,' he said. 'I do not accept that Ms Munro was unaware of Ms Bailey's friendship with JK Rowling.
'Dr Munro revealed clearly that if she did not regard Ms Bailey as a bigot, it was only by a hair's breadth.'
'On balance, it is likely that Dr Munro knew about Ms Bailey's gender critical beliefs before she was involved in taking the decision to terminate.'
Ms Bailey, who is a lesbian, said: 'I was a client of Palmerston Vets for 13 years when they expelled me. I never went to the vet to talk about issues around sex and gender.
'I would not have dreamed of doing so – they raised it with me, and made me the subject of internal gossip as a result. I was given no warning and no indication that I might be expelled.
'As many gender-critical women will know, this is all too often the case where anyone expresses a view in support of the rights of women and LGB people that conflicts with the views of trans rights activists and an authoritarian LGBTQ+ community and lobby.'
Promotion of 'trans activist material'
During the case, Ms Bailey's barrister Akua Reindorf KC told the court the practice's 'culture' included promotion of 'trans activist material', saying Dr Munro had shared information to staff members about how to address trans clients by their preferred pronouns and other preferred language use.
In the witness box, Dr Munro replied: 'I don't believe that I hold strong views. Am I some sort of radical pro-trans activist? No.
'I believe I hold views that many people in society have and the feeling behind this was one of kindness, inclusivity and treating people as you wish to be treated.'
Dr Munro agreed with the barrister that she found gender-critical views 'objectionable', adding: 'It's not a position I agree with, but I don't know if I'd say someone was a bigot – maybe I would.'
Gender-critical beliefs 'worthy of respect'
Maya Forstater, chief executive of human rights charity Sex Matters, said: 'This is the first case to come to court of discrimination based on gender-critical beliefs in relation to goods and services. We know that many people and organisations have experienced this.
'We can expect to see more of these kinds of cases unless service providers recognise that gender-critical beliefs are worthy of respect in a democratic society.'
A spokesman for Linnaeus, which owns Palmerston Veterinary Group, said: 'Our focus is on providing the best possible care for pets in a welcoming environment, and supporting our teams.'
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