From the Crowdfunding email
Update on I lost my job for talking about women’s rights
Dear all,
I received the judgement this afternoon. Here it is: Maya Forstater v CGD .
I lost. This judgement is chilling for the freedom of belief and speech.
I am gutted with the news but thinking through options with my legal team.
Below is my official statement.
Thank you all so much for your support. Courage Calls!
Lots of love
Maya
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I struggle to express the shock and disbelief I feel at reading this judgment, which I think will be shared by the vast majority of people who are familiar with my case.
My belief as i set out in my witness statement is that sex is a biological fact, and is immutable. There are two sexes, male and female. Men and boys are male. Women and girls are female. It is impossible to change sex. These were until very recently understood as basic facts of life by almost everyone.
As I said at my tribunal I will as a matter of courtesy use preferred pronouns and I support human rights. Everyone should be free to express themselves, to break free of gender stereotypes and to live free of violence, harrassment and discrimination.
But this does not require removing people’s freedom to speak about objective reality, or to discuss proposed changes to law and to government policies clearly.
Women facd discrimination on the basis of our sex. The rights of women to organise, to play a role in public life and to be protected against discrimination have been hard-won in recent generations. Protections against sex discrimination depend on being able to recognise sex. This is why it is a protected characteristic in the Equality Act.
This judgment removes women’s rights and the right to freedom of belief and speech. It gives judicial licence for women and men who speak up for objective truth and clear debate to be subject to aggression, bullying, no platforming and economic punishment.
I will consider the judgment closely with my legal team to determine what can be done to challenge it. I will make a further statement once that task is complete.
I want to express my thanks to my legal team Anya Palmer and Peter Daly for the excellent job they have done, to Kristina Harrison for speaking up as a witness in my tribunal, and to everyone whose careful and compassionate writing on this topic helped me to understand the issues. I am grateful for the outpouring of support I have received from around the world, via social media, on Mumsnet, through feminist networks and in person.
In particular thank you to everyone who has made and continues to make financial donations towards the legal costs through crowdjustice.com.
Most of all I want to thank my husband, my children and my family for their support. I will be forever grateful to everyone who has stood with me.