Cambridge councillor resigns from post and leaves Labour Party over 'betrayal' of women, read her letter here.

silentcrow - sorry, putting on bold seems to be beyond me

Have you seen Anne Ruzylo cutting up her card at a WPUK event? Absolutely powerful stuff, all those years of work trashed by this nonsense. Broke my heart to watch.

just watched. very emotional, but, good on her. Anne (right spelling this time) is also a hero

Women, you are all doing womaning wrong..thank goodness a transwoman has come and told you how to think. Just like a man would. So strange.

But now, the present iteration of the Labour Party is busily re-writing history to claim that AWSs were never ever exclusively designed for women, so that the Leadership can justify instating natal-male transwomen into women’s places within a mechanism that was designed to circumvent sexism.

Different types of restricted short lists are allowed to address inequality. Even a shortlist that only allows people with the legal sex female can still include "natal-male transwomen" who have a GRC. And "natal-male transwomen" suffer from sexism just like non-trans women.

Finally I know of no openly trans MPs so trans people are hardly over represented in parliament.

So much wrong to unpick with her article:

This amendment abolished women-only facilities in the city including toilets and changing rooms – and plunged the council into illegality. It meant that male-born transwomen could access female facilities.

Male-born transwomen (are there any other kind) have been accessing female facilities perfectly legally prior to the Equality Act. The EA just gave people with the protected characteristic of "gender reassignment" the right sue if they are denied access to female facilities (subject to narrow exceptions). The amendment goes slightly beyond the scope of the EA, but it does mean it has plunged the council into illegality. It just means they are being more inclusive than the EA required. I am still to see an actual legal argument that the council behaved illegally.

To be clear the facilities are and have been women-only - transwomen are women.

The council further breached the Act by failing to consult with women and by not conducting an Equality Impact Assessment to assess potential negative consequences on those affected by the change.

Other statements Ann has made suggest she thinks that Equality Impact Assessments were required due to the Public Sector Equality Duty. However, at the time of the amendment the Public Sector Equality Duty was not a legal requirement - the EA commenced in stages. Oops.

With luck Sarah Brown will stand for the resulting by election and win back the seat for the LibDems. It will be good to have someone on the council who actually understands equality law.

Have you seen Anne Ruzylo cutting up her card at a WPUK event? Absolutely powerful stuff, all those years of work trashed by this nonsense. Broke my heart to watch.

Succinct letter. To the point. I wonder if the guardian will mention it?

She’s exactly right. And good on her for setting out her reasons publicly.
Ann Sinnott sounds just the kind of activist that Labour should be desperately trying to hang on to.

Just holding on to my membership and relate to all of this. Sad loss for Labour.

Sorry bold fail

the sad thing is though that, in Anne's case, the party has lost another hard-working passionate individual fighting for women's rights. I have mixed feelings, as by leaving we are playing into the trans extremists hands, leaving the political arena entirely to them, and women politically voiceless.

I know. But I can't blame her. And I haven't left yet for the same reason as you.

Ann, brava

apologies for the spelling error - I meant Ann not Annewww.mumsnet.com/emo/te/8.gif.pagespeed.ce.jNxqqeqaDs.gif

Excellent letter from Ann. I have today explained ALL of the sorry Labour mess to mum- a longstanding Labour supporter, trade unionist and wife of a Labour councillor. I told her that I will really struggle to vote Labour as long as they fail to tackle the misogyny in the party

have been putting off and putting off leaving the Labour Party. When I read Anne's story the other day I decided to hang on in there - there are still decent dedicated women members, I thought. Her bravery inspired me. However, after Andy Birnam's moves in recent days, and now Anne leaving, think i am going to follow her lead and leave too.
the sad thing is though that, in Anne's case, the party has lost another hard-working passionate individual fighting for women's rights. I have mixed feelings, as by leaving we are playing into the trans extremists hands, leaving the political arena entirely to them, and women politically voiceless.

......

Building self-confidence in women can only be achieved from a place of empathy, from a place of sisterly solidarity, from a place of knowledge because of an actual lived experience. Even a 20-year-old woman would struggle in the role – and have difficulty dealing with 45-year-old women who have the ability, skills and relevant experience, but are unable to see it. If a 20-year-old woman is unlikely to have the depth of insight and the understanding of how life can lead to low self-esteem, how can a 20-year-old natal male take on the role? That’s not only a slap in the face for women members but it’s also ludicrous – no wonder the wider world scoffs.

Because of All Women Shortlists (AWSs) we now have a House of Commons, especially on the Labour benches, that is more representative of the wider population than ever before – but let’s not forget that the wider population is 51pc women, so that improved representation still falls short. AWSs still have work to do. But now, the present iteration of the Labour Party is busily re-writing history to claim that AWSs were never ever exclusively designed for women, so that the Leadership can justify instating natal-male transwomen into women’s places within a mechanism that was designed to circumvent sexism. This is biologically-based sexism – in the Party, without first consulting with ALL women members. It is treachery.

Ann Sinnott

Powerful stuff.

Cue the usual suspects tweeting 'Good riddance', etc.