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

[rocketpocket]

blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/08/ive-quit-the-labour-party-because-it-has-betrayed-women/

Turph you should use GDPR to your advantage. You can try again with the labour party themselves (theres a link to contact them on this page labour.org.uk/privacy-policy/) or since you've asked them repeatedly you could go direct to the information commission ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/nuisance-calls-and-messages/

@rocketpocket Thanks for sharing this article.
Might you consider asking MN to edit the title of the thread so that it includes that it is about Ann Sinnott's resignation for 'betraying women' and published in the Spectator? It makes it easier for people to find that way and I think many are interested to follow this story.

MN have been happy to do this with other similar threads.

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

I know you won’t reply, but do you believe human beings can change sex?

Ann Sinnott talks about her resignation when it became clear the extent to which Cambridge had and were failing to uphold women's sex based protections in conversation with Venice Allen:
www.youtube.com/embed/wgHOgO5HX1o

thread discussing her resignation and The Times article which announced it:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3322389-labour-councillor-quits-in-row-over-facilities-for-trans-people-the-times

current relevent thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3327711-Has-Transgender-replaced-Gender-Reassignment-in-protected-characteristics-of-Equality-Act

Further to discussions about the situation with CAmbridge City Council:

PencilsinSpace posted on the origninal thread :

"Here are the minutes from the Cambridge City Council meeting where they chose to play fast and loose with the EA when it was only 10 days old.
democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=159&MId=376

The committee received apologies for absence from Cllr Boyce, Cllr Brown attended as a substitute.

10/57/SR - Annual Review of Equalities (near the bottom of the page):

Councillor Brown proposed a number of amendments to strengthen the protection for transgender employees and service users. Other members of the committee expressed support for the proposal, although it was noted additional notice about the amendment would have aided the debate. The Head of Strategy and Partnership advised the committee of a number of proposed amendments to address the concerns raised. The Scrutiny Committee endorsed the following amendments by 5 votes to 0;

· Insert into “Employment Practices” section - We will not exclude transgender people from positions, which require a gender-appropriate candidate .

· Insert into the “Valuing our customers – delivering services” section

• transgender people will not be excluded from gender-appropriate single sex/sex segregated facilities operated by the council

Shit stinks."

In the video linked above, Ann Sinnott comments that under standard council rules, Sarah Brown as a tranwoman herself had a conflict of interests and this should have been declared / would usually have meant a councillor recused themself etc

So Labour is a shit show for women as detailed above. The Tories have a man as their 'voice of women in politics'. The Lib Dems applauded the idea of a 50-50 TW and male parliament. The Green Party called women 'non-men'. And the WEP can't even get two sides of the debate represented to discuss self-ID.

Anyone else spoiling their ballot at the the next election?

Bingpot

If there was a GE tomorrow I would spoil my ballot - I always make a point of voting in local and general elections, and I am bereft at the lack of representation for women in politics, how ironic that 100 years after women got the vote we now have it taken away from us again.

Anyone who puts the safeguarding of women and girls in jeopardy isn’t fit to be in politics, the fact there are so many out there is bloody scary, we need to carry on pushing back- and may I just say that there are hundreds of women doing just that and you are all brave and wonderful and thank you so much.

Isn’t it interesting how women are too busy running the country to run for politics.

I will be spoiling my ballot until further notice.

I will be spoiling my ballot until further notice. No party is fit to vote for.

An excellent letter Ann. I support you all the way.🌺

SarahAr

Please indicate where, in any law, it specifies that males who transition must be given access to all and any female sex-segregated space.

The GRA 2004 acknowledges two things: (1) that it creates the Legal Fiction that a person's sex has changed; and (2) that changing the sex marker applies to legally required documentation of the Birth Certificate only. See item 4 in Explanatory Notes: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/7/notes/division/2

See also Explanatory Notes para 43: Parenthood, and 79, 80 and 84 on this page: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/7/notes/division/4

Equally importantly, these Notes explain that any change of sex marker relates to specific matters of protection in law: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/7/notes/division/4/9

Nowhere in the GRA 2004 does it state that any change of legal sex marker and ownership of a GRC affords any right for any transitioner to access the sex-segregated spaces, services or sports, etc.

Further, the Equality Act 2010 contains no specific references that assert any right for any transitioner, with or without a GRC, to access any sex-segregated spaces, services or sports, etc. The associated Exceptions give details of when it is legally appropriate to exclude specifically any person from any sex-segregated activity: sisterhoodispowerful.wordpress.com/2016/06/17/a-uk-guide-for-non-lawyers-about-protecting-women-only-spaces-june-2016/

There is the issue of being an exclusion that is proportionate in response to achieving a legitimate aim and the safety, privacy and dignity of and fairness for females is that legitimate aim.

Males who have transitioned may have been accessing female sex-segregated spaces, services, sports etc but this has been based on an inaccurate assumption that the law allows this as a right. The law very clearly does not since nowhere in any law is this specified. It has been assumed by males who have transitioned.

Such behaviour has been a violation of females' boundaries and against our consent, since at no time has any female ever been consulted in relation to either law and its potential impact upon them.

Women are saying "No!" now. No transitioner has our consent to violate our boundaries.

Finally, Cambridge City Council is acting unlawfully, since the terms "transgender", "transwoman", "transman" "gender identity", "gender expression" and "non-binary" have no legal meaning and are not protected characteristics within the specifications of the Equality Act 2010.

In fact, section 7 of the EqA specifies that the protected characteristic of 'gender reassignment' applies to transsexuals only [ie: those transitioners who own a GRC]. Again, this protection only applies to specific matters relating to existing law and that same law provides Exceptions in matters relating to those legal situations.

I resigned as part of the mayday4women mass resignation.

Despite writing to my CLP at the time I also got a phone call a few weeks ago asking me if I wanted to re-consider.

I won't lie - it was a very therapeutic 2 minute explanation on how I felt the LP has let down women and that under the current regime not only had they lost my (and DH's) membership, but that they'd also lost our votes.

The man on the end of the phone simply said "Wow - I'd not thought about it like that before" when I'd finished speaking (I was not aggressive btw just stating my points) and I said yes "wow indeed - it's incredibly sad and frustrating".

@R0wantrees I don't know how I'd go about asking MN to do that. I'm on the phone app if that helps?

@rocketpocket If you report your OP you can ask there. Others have done this recently.

Sarah we've been over and over this.

Considering you've recently posted that women distressed by the behaviour of a transwomen in a toilet 'should have just called the police' and that a transwoman showing a penis while changing in the women's changing rooms is obviously committing indecent exposure and can't they just get changed in cubicles, you've demonstrated your naivety about all this and what it means, I felt quite sorry for you reading those posts thinking you must surely now realise for yourself what it is GC women are talking about here.

Why are you just reiterating and reiterating the Equality Act post as if it means something and somehow should be said, when bottom line, you have exactly the same concerns and feelings about self ID yourself as the GC women here?

The man on the end of the phone simply said "Wow - I'd not thought about it like that before" when I'd finished speaking (I was not aggressive btw just stating my points) and I said yes "wow indeed - it's incredibly sad and frustrating".

interesting.
at least you've made someone think WomblingWoman, good on you. i keep feeling that if more people could hear the reasons for our concerns..

Jacky fantastic post thank you- very helpful to have it all set out so clearly.

The Limp Dims have picked Sarah Brown as their candidate for this seat, as a sort of 'fuck you' to Ann Sinnott over this.

Brown is a pretty vile TRA www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3207415-Just-when-you-thought-the-LibDems-couldnt-out-crazy-Labour?messages=100&pg=1

that is them sending a completely intentional slap in the face to women, isn’t it. Shocking.