Times 'Lib Dem trans activists ‘hounded’ abuse victim (Natalie Bird)''.Article refers to Zoe O'Connell & Sarah Brown

[R0wantrees]

article by Lucy Bannerman
(extract)
"A victim of domestic abuse was removed as a judge of a radical thinking prize and “hounded” out of her role within the Liberal Democrats for saying that she did not believe that men who identified as women should have access to women’s refuges.

Natalie Bird, 38, a mother of two who fled an abusive former partner, was accused of “dangerous transphobia” by transgender activists in the party. She had said that opening up safe spaces without proper safeguards to anyone who said that they were female could put women at risk.

She opposed segregating women’s refuges by chosen gender instead of biological sex, and said that it was not fair to make female victims of domestic violence, abuse and rape share services with people with “functioning” male anatomy.

After being allegedly bullied on social media by party activists, Ms Bird was brought before a disciplinary hearing to face a complaint in the name of Zoe O’Connell, on behalf of the LGBT+ Liberal Democrats. The correspondence says that Ms Bird had “expressed troublesome views”.

The hearing found no evidence to support the complaint of transphobia, but Ms Bird lost her position as chairwoman of the Radical Association, made up of party members, following a vote of no confidence. This cost her her role as a judge of the Ashdown Prize for Radical Thought; an ironic move, Ms Bird said, given that the prize’s aim was to reward “big, bold, radical” solutions to society’s most “daunting problems . . . no one has the courage to argue for” (continues)

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lib-dem-trans-activists-hounded-abuse-victim-b6dx39tv3

Hopefully many LibDem Members will stand in support of Natalie Bird.

O'Connell and Brown make a mockery of the LibDem priciples and their bullying abusive behaviour has been allowed to run unchecked within the party.

The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity. We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals, we acknowledge and respect their right to freedom of conscience and their right to develop their talents to the full. We aim to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. We believe that the role of the state is to enable all citizens to attain these ideals, to contribute fully to their communities and to take part in the decisions which affect their lives.

AnnoyedAlly, Zoe O'C I don't know so much about, but I lived in Petersfield ward when Sarah Brown was a councillor and the greatest contribution Sarah "I couldn't be bothered to read the CB1 planning proposal I just voted through bits of" Brown made to the local community was losing the 2014 election. If you can't be arsed to take the role seriously, then leave it to someone who can. And the hysterical lying about transphobic hate literature in the ward before the recent by-election demonstrated yet again exactly why Brown is completely unsuitable for any elected office - I know everyone expect the Lib Dems to stretch the truth at election time, but even so that must have been awkward for the rest of the ward party. Still, we all know that no-one else is ever going to get a shot at the party nomination for Petersfield as long as Brown remains un-re-elected, not least because you can bet Brown's formaldehyde pickled balls that if anyone proposed an alternative candidate Brown would start yelling about transphobia until they changed their minds.

Julie B was definitely 'bothered' about it. Lesbians have protested at events where Brown because of Brown's comments.

The LibDems continuing to support and platform Sarah Brown is a huge flashing neon red flag that the LibDems are utterly comfortable with misogyny and have no respect or space for lesbians.

It is terrible what they have done specifically to Natalie Bird, but all woman involved with the LibDems should be aware this is not an isolated incident, just the latest of demonstrations by the LibDems that they are hostile to women and have no intention of listening to us or representing us.

lesbians have protested at events where Brown was a speaker

Should have read.

I'm sorry, WTF? The individual who wrote this then stood as an MP for the Lib Dems? What the fuck is wrong with these parties.

Can you imagine a woman having written any of that then being put forward as a candidate by the LibDems?

The LibDems don't believe Brown is a woman, they would not associate themselves with a woman who behaved like that.

Disgraceful bullies like Brown have caused so many problems. Social media amplifies them.

Sad

Got to love the selfless nature of deep friendship that means you will proudly defend odious bullies who hound abuse victims because they disagree with her. That's womaning right, you bigots!

I'm sorry, WTF? The individual who wrote this then stood as an MP for the Lib Dems? What the fuck is wrong with these parties.

No, not even a party as full of incompetents and wierdos as the Cambridge Lib Dem party has historically been is nuts enough to select Brown as a parliamentary candidate. Brown was a local councillor, unluckily for the residents of Petersfield ward in Cambridge.

Vile, Vile people - they really hate Women.
It must be infuriating for them to see Women who are on to them and even MORE infuriating for them to know that 99.9% of people will never see them as Women , because they are not, their dicks are showing (even if inverted and requiring regular dilation) .
Four political parties in thrall to misogynists.

This is the most hilarous bit about the whole Times article:

A Lib Dem spokesman said that it “encouraged wide debate within the party, and was proud that we can have sensible debates with a wide range of views”.

Was the spokesman one of their mates?

All 'girls' together. Bet they do pamper days and everything

Pampers days more like, if the lovely AC is involved...

If you are a ‘lesbian’ who is put off by the thought of vaginas you are probably doing to wrong

I think I saw this on twitter. I believe the hounder was referred to as 'a bit of a shit'

The other thing I don't understand is how can they talk like this about their own body?

This is the thing. If anybody else spoke of trans bodies in such disgusting terms they’d be hounded for ‘transphobia’.

That's a relief FatherBuzz. I thought the party had completely lost their minds.

QuietContraryMary
Might you screenshot please?
Tweets get protected or deleted often.

I feel sorry for Gordon Brown's wife in all this. There's many a time the name Sarah Brown has come up and I've thought WTF before realising. I hope she doesn't Google her own name and find all this filth that SB has shared on the Internet.

Sarah Brown has been vocal about her GRC and that this makes her both a woman and female

Hang on, so if you self-ID you used to be a man, but if you have a GRC you are a woman and always have been

I thought the party had completely lost their minds.

Almost, but not completely. The Cambridge Lib Dems really are a very odd bunch but they still hold out hopes of re-taking the seat and I'm sure that they're pragmatic enough to realise that someone with Brown's grotesque history on social media would be completely toxic.

Almost, but not completely. The Cambridge Lib Dems really are a very odd bunch but they still hold out hopes of re-taking the seat and I'm sure that they're pragmatic enough to realise that someone with Brown's grotesque history on social media would be completely toxic.

You'd think...

...not sure I have that confidence.

Its fascinating.

I'm sure that they're pragmatic enough to realise that someone with Brown's grotesque history on social media would be completely toxic.

I'm not so sure. The LibDems don't seem to be using any kind of common sense.

The thing about the Lib Dems in Cambridge is that as unhinged as many of them have been over the last couple of decades, they are completely ruthless when they get a scent of power. So there's no way in hell that they'd put their woke credentials ahead of the chance to re-take the parliamentary seat by letting someone with such a public history of bullying and general aggression get nominated and fuck it up for them. They'll let Brown carry on trying to get re-elected in Petersfield (there's a high population turnover in the ward so they must be counting on the fact that eventually enough people who know what Brown was like as a councillor will have moved away for re-election to be possible) because it's low stakes for them, but it would be suicidal to select Brown for the constituency - and too many other, better qualified people (men, of course) are ahead in the queue.

AnnoyedAlly

Your friends sound delightful, exactly the kind of people I would want to share single sex services with.

The lib dems are an absolute shit storm at the moment. No wonder Nick Clegg has gone to Facebook.

I just found this, I present excerpts without comment:

amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/apr/20/greatest-sexual-taboo-polyamorous-transgender?__twitter_impression=true

°Sylvia, who works in computing in Cambridge, is remarkably phlegmatic about her partner's change of sex, and describes herself as "heterosexual by default" before Sarah's transition. "I never really considered dating women before, but when I look back, the relationship Sarah and I had when she was presenting male was a bit lesbian," she says^

Sylvia even had some laser and electrolysis treatment to remove her armpit hair so she could empathise with some of the physical pain that Sarah was experiencing.

Some months later, Sarah and Zoe went to Brighton again to support a mutual friend's surgery and this time shared a twin-bedded hotel room. "There was sexual tension in the room," remembers Sarah, laughing. Sarah and Zoe were falling in love.

Feeling increasingly stressed about their feelings, Sarah, Zoe and Sylvia sat down to talk and, together, they "renegotiated the bounds of the existing relationship," as Sarah puts it

Hang on, so if you self-ID you used to be a man, but if you have a GRC you are a woman and always have been

This is the legal protection that the GRC grants. Sarah Brown wans'nt just always a woman (presumably she was a girl previously) she is very emphatic that she is female.

Interestingly Sue Pascoe (prospective Consevative MP and Channel 4 Diversity & Inclusion consultant) who also has said she has a GRC obtained reletively recently asserts that she is not only a woman but emphatically female.