Latest news with #PrideInLabour
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Labour set to cancel women's conference over Supreme Court transgender ruling
Labour is set to postpone its women's conference because of the risk of protests and legal challenge following the Supreme Court ruling on gender. The party's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) will be asked on Tuesday to postpone the event, which is due to take place in September, because the 'only legally defensible alternative' would be to restrict attendance to biological women. The NEC will also be asked to make clear that all-women shortlists should be restricted to biological females. This is the joint statement from myself as Trans Officer for LGBT Labour, @Lab4TransRights and @PrideInLabour. — Georgia Meadows (@MsGrgaMeadows) May 19, 2025 The Supreme Court ruled in April that the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act 'refer to a biological woman and biological sex'. Labour had previously operated its 'positive action' measures on the basis of self-identification, allowing transgender women to take part. A leaked advice paper produced for the NEC meeting recommended postponing the women's conference on September 27 because 'there is a significant risk of legal challenge to the event as it currently operates' and 'there may be protests, direct action and heightened security risks' if it goes ahead. That could carry a 'political risk' of overshadowing the party's showcase autumn conference which begins the following day. The recommendation in the paper is to postpone the women's conference pending a wider review of positive action measures. The paper also says the party should issue guidance to make clear that all-women shortlists can only apply to 'applicants who were biologically female at birth'. Labour did not use all-women shortlists at the last general election. It is understood Labour will respect the Supreme Court judgment and comply with statutory guidance when it is published. Ministers will consider the Equality and Human Rights Commission's code of practice when a draft is submitted by the body. The Labour for Trans Rights group, along with Pride in Labour and LGBT+ Labour's trans officer, Georgia Meadows, condemned the NEC paper and its recommendations. They said: 'It is a blatant attack on trans rights and is seemingly an attempt to isolate trans people even further within the Labour Party and the labour movement more widely.' The Labour Women's Declaration group, which backs 'sex-based rights', said cancelling the conference would be a 'knee-jerk reaction'. A spokesperson told the LabourList website: 'We are shocked that hundreds of women in the Labour Party might be prevented from meeting at conference because the NEC would prefer to disadvantage all women rather than to exclude the very small number of trans-identified men who may wish to attend the women's conference.'
The Independent
19-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Thousands protest landmark gender court ruling in outcry against ‘betrayal' of trans community
Thousands of protesters have taken to streets across the UK in outcry against the 'betrayal' of the trans community after a Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman. Amid fears of 'massive' consequences for trans people, a major march in central London is estimated by organisers to have drawn at least 5,000 demonstrators on Saturday, while thousands more gathered in towns and cities up and down the country for dozens of other protests, with more planned in the coming days. Trans rights groups, trade unions and community organisations came together for what was billed as an 'emergency demonstration' in Parliament Square, with activists demanding 'trans liberation' and 'trans rights now'. Some waved flags and held banners, with placards stating 'trans rights are human rights' and 'trans women are women' seen among the signs being held aloft. The protests have been organised in response to a long-awaited judgment delivered on Wednesday in which the UK's highest court confirmed the terms 'woman' and 'sex' in the 2010 Equality Act 'refer to a biological woman and biological sex'. This means transgender women with a gender recognition certificate can be excluded from single-sex spaces if 'proportionate'. Speaking to The Independent from Parliament Square on Saturday, Avery Greatorex, co-chair of Pride In Labour, which is one of the organisers, branded the ruling a 'betryal' of the trans community, and accused the Supreme Court of not including trans people in coming to its conclusion. The 21-year-old, from Preston, said: 'It feels like a betrayal, because we're in a country that will boast about our equality and personal protections, that every person is their own individual and free to do as they wish – then we're told by the state that the way we identify isn't a valid way to identify. It's a betrayal by the courts, especially when they didn't include trans people when coming to that ruling.' Speaking of her reasons for travelling to the capital to protest, she said: 'We have come out today to pressure the government and the public to stand with the trans community, as right now all across country there are lots of very scared trans people, because the implications of this ruling could be massive.' The ruling means trans women cannot use single-sex female toilets, changing rooms or compete in women's sports, according to the head of Britain's equalities watchdog. But Ms Greatorex also pointed to the 'less obvious' but equally damaging consequences, especially those affecting members of the trans community who are already vulnerable. 'There's a lot of concern that people already needing support are now feeling that support being whipped away from them,' she said. She cited the new barriers trans women could face accessing safe spaces like refuges. 'Being unable to access these necessary refuges, that puts them at really great risk of the people who've made them victims,' she said. The government said the unanimous decision by five judges brought 'clarity and confidence' for women and service providers, while a Labour party source said prime minister Sir Keir Starmer had brought the party to a 'common sense position' on the subject from an 'activist' stance. Ms Greatorex described the energy of the 'absolutey ram-packed' crowd in London on Saturday as 'incredible', with 'people in every direction'. She added that there is 'a lot more anger and passion' than she has seen at previous protests. Trans Kids Deserve Better, the Front for the Liberation of Intersex Non-binary and Transgender people (Flint) and TransActual are among the other groups supporting the London protest. A rally and march organised by Resisting Transphobia taking place in Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon is also expected to draw a large turnout. According to a list compiled by What the Trans!?, 38 demonstrations have been planned across the UK this month and next, while a protest outside the British embassy in the Netherlands was even organised. Ms Greatorex said: 'It's an international push – it's the same struggle wherever we are in the world. The solidarity is incredible.'
