Dear .......
I’d value your thoughts on an issue that will influence how I vote at the next election. I’m a lifelong Lib Dem supporter, but feeling the party is heading in a direction I can’t support.
The issue is women’s rights and gender theory. This is often presented as transphobia, a culture-wars issue stirred up by the right. I’m hearing many voices in the Lib Dems saying people with gender critical views should be expelled from the party. This recent article from Liberal Democrat Voice is typical: .........
The writer says those who question gender theory are bigots. Ed Davey takes a strong ’transwomen are women’ line. The party line seems clear.
Liberal Voice for Women are speaking out in favour of biological sex, but they appear increasingly marginalised.
I’m centre-left and progressive in my politics, and most of the others I know who are concerned about protecting single-sex spaces for women (eg rape crisis centres, prisons and women’s sports) are progressive left-wing feminists. Most now feel politically homeless. Most say the two parties they could now never vote for are the Greens and Lib Dems, because both take their cues from the likes of Stonewall and Mermaids, ignoring women’s hard-earned sex-based rights.
Many are saying they will vote Tory, even though they hate almost everything else the party stands for, because the Tories at least use the language of women as adult human females, and the likes of Miriam Cates are speaking out in favour of women’s sex-based rights and calling out misogyny among extremist activists.
I was in a feminist meeting in Manchester last year, while 150 masked activists with loud-hailers shouted violent rhetoric about Terfs, Nazis and genocide, and tried to storm the meeting. Those inside were terrified. This past weekend the trans activist known as Sarah Jane Baker (who spent years in jail for kidnap and attempted murder), told the London Trans march, 'if you see a TERF, punch them in the f face.’ I have heard no robust condemnation of this from Lib Dems, Greens or Labour. The Metropolitan Police replied to those complaining to say there is no case to answer, even though lawyers say it was clear incitement to violence against women.
In my previous job I worked closely with a trans woman, and I believe trans-identifying people should share the normal range of human rights. This isn’t about transphobia.
But increasingly, I am hearing large numbers of people, particularly women, saying the only party they will be able to vote for at the next election are the Tories, because this feels like an issue of violence and personal safety. The Tories have been astute in spotting there are large numbers of votes at stake.
I’d value your thoughts, as they are likely to shape how I vote. I’d be happy to talk in person at any stage, or participate in any good-faith discussions locally.
Very best wishes