WEP expels founding member for tweeting #IStandWithJKRowlings

[stumbledin]

hilarybaxter
@rtwhilary
I was a Founding Member of the Women’s Equality Party and Chair of the Oxford Branch until last week. I posted #IStandWithJKRowling and IOC petition on WEP Oxford Fb. WEP called these “offensive” & kicked me out. WEP don’t support sex based rights.
twitter.com/rtwhilary/status/1288083971830681602

There is now a WEP Women's Sex-Based Rights Caucus on facebook www.facebook.com/wepwomen/

Every purge of a political party has proven counterproductive throughout the history of political parties and purges and yet the authoritarians cannot resist the lure of a self righteous purge.
Santayana's quote about those who do not learn from history comes to mind.

Here's their statement:

Women’s Equality Party complaint investigations are confidential. However, the subject of a recent complaint has decided to make a public statement. Accordingly, we wish to make the following clarifications:

The Executive Committee investigated a complaint against a branch officer and the complaint was upheld. The Panel found that the officer had breached our Code of Conduct by publishing a statement on the branch Facebook page that contradicted the party’s position. The Committee decided that her access to that social media account should therefore be suspended while she underwent training.

During the course of the investigation, the branch officer voluntarily shared with the Executive Committee an email in which she expressed views on the party’s involvement in issues of race and disability that are incompatible with the party’s position. The Executive Committee considered this an aggravating factor in the complaint and therefore decided to revoke her membership.

www.womensequality.org.uk/statement_complaints_investigation

Women’s equality party expels woman for being feminist. You couldn’t make it up.

the branch officer voluntarily shared with the Executive Committee an email in which she expressed views on the party’s involvement in issues of race and disability that are incompatible with the party’s position.

Has it been revealed what this refers to?

Sad. Their site shows all sorts of good stuff, though it is true that I saw nothing about health care issues. Those would not be included, of course, if being a woman is just an essence, having nothing to do with the body.

"while she underwent training"

That's some Maoist Cultural Revolution crap right there. It's also patronising. She quite evidently wasn't posting what she did out of a lack of training but out of a firmly held belief. (Which of course is exactly why it's sinister - "training" now means "agree or you will be punished").

If 'woman' is just an abstract identity, having nothing at all to do with the female body, then why would there even be such a thing as WEP?

The problems listed on their site are about problems which are based on either direct or indirect effects from living in a biologically female body, the indirect ones being various types of discrimination and rigid sex roles disadvantaging women in the modern economy. Women don't suffer because of genderism but because of sexism.

If 'woman' is just an abstract identity, having nothing at all to do with the female body, then why would there even be such a thing as WEP?

Apparently the evil (ciswhitehetero) menz oppress all other humans, especially those who have womanly feelingz.

In the nonsensical world of Queer Theory, 'women' are discriminated on the basis of their 'identity', so grown men who 'identify' as women now claim bonus oppression points for 'transmisogyny' while a teenage girl who 'identifies' as a man apparently has 'male privilege'. 🙄

How do political parties normally deal with disagreements among members on key issues of fact and personal principle?

I have never heard of party members undergoing ‘Training’ though... how fucking sinister. ‘Training’ her in what? How to ignore human biology? how to ignore statistics of increased risk to women by putting men in their spaces? How to hand power over to men? how to ignore safeguarding and consent for women and children? Training her in how to be more ‘nice’, silent, self effacing, more women-effacing? How to ‘shut up and open her purse’ like JKR has been told to do?

Shouldn’t a political party worth its title say to its hierarchy and members, there’s a massive fundamental political issue for women here, let’s have some internal debates and work out our political position together on this?

Shouldn’t a nominally Women’s party specifically prioritise listening to the views of women on this issue?

Parties that adopt authoritarian thinking and practices to support idealogies should be called cults instead.

The Party must be renamed. I can think of a few unprintables but The Transwomen's Used to be Women's Equality Party. The TUWEPS will do for now

The Women And Trans Sisters.

the officer had breached our Code of Conduct by publishing a statement on the branch Facebook page that contradicted the party’s position. The Committee decided that her access to that social media account should therefore be suspended while she underwent training.

I read this as the training was about not putting things on social media which don't match their policies.

That doesn't seem an awful thing for a political party.

It does make it quite clear that their policies are anti-women's rights, which makes a mockery of their name.

@BaronEssoStation

The Women And Trans Sisters.

Perfect

I posted #IStandWithJKRowling and IOC petition on WEP Oxford Fb.
So the WEP have a position on JKR and a position pro people born male competing in sports aimed at people born female???

I see there is now a WEP sex based rights caucus so now I'm really confused. Are they having an open discussion or not.
www.facebook.com/pages/category/Political-Organization/wepwomen/about/

WEP certainly seem to be having some kind of discussion. I'm not sure what you'd call it.

The WEP sex based rights caucus have a website here which is pretty informative about what's been going on a WEP. www.wepsbr.com

Kudos to the GC WEP women who are doggedly fighting on, trying to do something about the ridiculous situation that the only UK party specifically for women, doesn't seem to know what a woman is.

WEP is completely ineffective. After 5 years what notable advancements have they acheved?

Membership has been plummeting for most of it's existence. The Committee roles are allocated via popularity contests instead of being skill or competence based. And they're completely in thrall to the LGBTI genderists.

Mandu Read, the party leader, gave a Diva award to Dr Harrop last year. That tells you her attitude to women.

It would be a shame if the party was successful but as it's a amateurish ineffective waste of time anyway.

@holidayplanningnewbie

WEP certainly seem to be having some kind of discussion. I'm not sure what you'd call it.

The WEP sex based rights caucus have a website here which is pretty informative about what's been going on a WEP. www.wepsbr.com

Kudos to the GC WEP women who are doggedly fighting on, trying to do something about the ridiculous situation that the only UK party specifically for women, doesn't seem to know what a woman is.

I note that u can also sign a petition, which I've just done

Ooh I was so excited when the WEP was launched and joined at the start. 1 year of crappy waffly badly written shite supporter emails and press releases later, with no sign of having anything to say about actual inequality or threats to women, and I de-joined. So disappointing.

So they not only breached their own proclaimed confidentiality but did it to taint the member by dragging in new unexplained matters which the 'subject' had not disclosed. How dishonourable to smear someone in that weasel way ('clarifications') to shore up their poor Stalinist excuse for investigation.

The name Women's Equality Party is a bad joke.

Isn't that exactly how they smeared Heather Brunskell Evans?

At this rate there will be 2 WEPs, ie a second party made up of all those expelled which could just grow and grow!

Mandu Read, the party leader, gave a Diva award to Dr Harrop last year. That tells you her attitude to women.

I'm torn here between wanting to scream and because Haddock is indeed a diva, but I suspect they were using the word in a different way ...

@stumbledin

Isn't that exactly how they smeared Heather Brunskell Evans?

At this rate there will be 2 WEPs, ie a second party made up of all those expelled which could just grow and grow!

The treatment of HBE was why I left (after being in from the start).

This schism was always on the cards it just took time to play out. It's striking, of course, that WEP is being left in the hands and leadership of TWAW advocates and those who explicitly centre women are the schism.

she expressed views on the party’s involvement in issues of race and disability that are incompatible with the party’s position. So, erm, what happened really?

Ridiculous.

Complaining about the petition to the IOC is particularly grating. Even people who know nothing about the trans issue know males competing in women’s sports is utterly unfair and frequently unsafe.

The WEP supports the rights of males over
Feagaiga Stowers from Samoa to win women’s weightlifting gold in weightlifting.

We ought to know her name as a champion.