Another Labour councillor resigns over Cambridge City Council's transgender policies

[StandWitch]

See www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/labour-councillor-kevin-price-resigns-from-cambridge-city-council-over-transgender-rights-motion-9127531/ and cf. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3322389-labour-councillor-quits-in-row-over-facilities-for-trans-people-the-times

A Labour councillor of 10 years and former deputy leader at Cambridge City Council has resigned over a motion on transgender rights.

The motion, brought by the Liberal Democrats to a session of the full council on Thursday (October 22), began with the words: “Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Non-binary individuals are non-binary.”

It is quite possible that the previous shenanigans is what led to his resignation as deputy leader in 2018 www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/news/deputy-leader-of-cambridge-city-council-stands-down-9051099/ as the dates are the same

The motion, brought by the Liberal Democrats to a session of the full council on Thursday (October 22), began with the words: “Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Non-binary individuals are non-binary.”

Kevin Price , who represented King’s Hedges for the Labour party, said he could not support those words, saying they would “send a chill down the spines” of “many women,” and saying it is “foolish to pretend” there are not widely different views or concerns about women’s rights.

He said he has not voted against a Labour motion in his 10 years on the council, and said he did not intend to break that “principle”, and instead announced his resignation to the meeting, saying there are times when conscience “must be weighed against the pull of party”.

A second Labour councillor, Carina O'Reilly has been targeted by TRAs www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/two-cambridge-labour-councillors-accused-19019555

She dared to retweet JK Rowling.

There is some detail on the council's motion here:

democracy.cambridge.gov.uk/documents/b15527/Information%20Pack%2022nd-Oct-2020%2018.00%20Council.pdf?T=9

Facilitating and strongly encouraging all Councillors to attend
Safer Spaces training
Safer Spaces training for councillors was delivered on 24th February
2020 for the first time and officers can run further sessions. Officers
have also been asked by Cllr Smith to book transgender awareness
training for councillors. The council also provides 2 training sessions on transgender awareness per year for staff delivered by The Kite Trust.

There is also something about consulting groups about which Pride flag they want flown.

Essentially this motion was to object to the government not making a new GRA.

Ah yes, Sarah the 'exceedingly liberal' democrat www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/apr/20/greatest-sexual-taboo-polyamorous-transgender

So, do municipal/local politics in the UK generally involve political parties? Here councillors in counties and municipalities aren't party representatives, which I would say I rather prefer.

yes nearly always, though in some areas you get a 'residents association'

Yes, which is really annoying in many ways. Often the media uses it as a test of how the central government is doing, which isn't always very reflective because half the people are voting on local issues, and their vote says nothing about the party in power in Westminster.

And the other half who have no interest in local politics DO vote based on their party affiliation generally, which is how people such as certain Lib Dem councillors mentioned earlier still got quite a few votes in 2019, as people were keen on Lib Dems for their anti-Brexit stance (in a very very anti-Brexit city), so voted for the party without looking into individual candidates or what they said/tweeted. That frequently happens if people have no particular local concerns; they just vote for a party they like, and Lib Dems have been popular here all along (most people having no idea about their stance on women's issues, and/or caring more about their stance on Brexit and other things at least).

I too would prefer it if local politics was kept separate from national political parties.

It's not very liberal to consider women and trans women as being one group and not facing different issues. We should applaud the councillor for being true to his conscience.

I agree with the observation that people often vote in local elections based on their view on national politics.

Now students want him sacked from his porter job

www.varsity.co.uk/news/20079

"Condemning Price, who is currently continuing his duties at the College, the UCS stated that Price has shown “a brazen contempt for the rights and dignity of trans and non-binary people”. They reassured students that “the UCS and MCR are currently in communication with the College on how best to resolve this situation while centring trans and non-binary students”, and that “the Senior Tutor is meeting with Price personally”.

The UCS’ LGBT+ Officer Frankie Kendal emphasised that “at Clare, we have a small but vibrant trans and non-binary community that should not only feel safe but feel celebrated”, furthering that for as long as Price continues to perpetuate transphobic views, “trans and non-binary students should not have to interact or rely on him for support in any way”.

Kendal, who is also a Trans and Non-Binary Rep on the Cambridge SU LGBT+ Campaign, furthermore highlighted that “the handling of this situation highlights that transphobia runs much deeper than a singular Twitter feed”.

Kendal denounced the College’s failure to make students aware of Price’s conduct when his Tweets were unearthed last month, alongside Council members mourning Kevin’s resignation “but not denouncing his transphobia” and “the way CULA used his original comments as a partisan campaigning tool”. Kendal affirmed that all these instances show a continued “failure to centre trans people”, alongside the fact that trans students “are not being prioritised as they should be”.

Victoria Longstaff, former SU Women’s Campaign Trans Rep and Clare student, commented that Price is “unfit both to hold public office and to be in a position of responsibility over students” in light of his views. She added that transgender students relying on him in his position as a Clare porter is “a potential risk”, furthering that because of this she “must support either his resignation or his suspension from his duties at the college”.

Those little s*s had better start to learn pretty fast that they don’t call rule the world and when they get out into the real world and wipe their snotty noses, the boot will be in the other foot.

What nasty little shi those students are. I honestly hope that someone does the same to them.

It’s true that the young really don't mature until way after leaving education.

I remember in my early 20s there were redundancies all over the place and I just sailed through, assuming that everyone would just like off savings before they got a new job (yes? Just like that).

Now my stomach lurches whenever someone tells me that they are ‘at risk’. I worry about their rent, how they will manage bills, will they get a now job and will they have to take a pay cut.

The grown ups need to take back control.

Thread from Cambridge Rad fems on Twitter <a class="break-all" href="https://twitter.com/camradfems/status/1320785042080178177?s=19twitter.com/camradfems/status/1320785042080178177?s=19" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">twitter.com/camradfems/status/1320785042080178177?s=19twitter.com/camradfems/status/1320785042080178177?s=19

What nasty little students they are.

@RozWatching I've just seen that in Varsity as well.
We are in South Cambs but used to live in the City. What has happened is appalling. I really admire Kevin.

Good for Cambridge rad fems.

And what little shits those students are. Privileged little shits trying to get a porter sacked FFS!

(The classism among Cambridge students towards the college staff has to be seen to be believed. Many years ago, there was a huge fuss about Weill's disease in the river water, with all of the college boat clubs being warned to tell rowers to cover cuts and blisters with waterproof plasters. I was down at the boat sheds a few days later getting a single scull out, and our boat man was working on one of the boats, cut his hand and went to rinse it off in the water - I shrieked no, then explained. He was horrified. No one - no one - had thought to tell any of the college boatmen about the Weill's disease outbreak. Absolutely encapsulated the attitude the average student had to the staff.)

Of course they really need to realise that on these days, any future potential employer will google them. Seeing a name gleefully calling for someone to lose their job because they said something they didn’t like - well I know I’d be put well off. Who wants like that on the payroll?

That is heartening to read from camradfems, but some of these maladjusted little shits are future decision-makers.
And they have their supporters. Was it Rayner or Creasy who said that they are keeping the seat warm for Madigan?

This is awful. Truly awful. We need to write to Clare.

@CaraDuneRedux

Good for Cambridge rad fems.

And what little shits those students are. Privileged little shits trying to get a porter sacked FFS!

(The classism among Cambridge students towards the college staff has to be seen to be believed. Many years ago, there was a huge fuss about Weill's disease in the river water, with all of the college boat clubs being warned to tell rowers to cover cuts and blisters with waterproof plasters. I was down at the boat sheds a few days later getting a single scull out, and our boat man was working on one of the boats, cut his hand and went to rinse it off in the water - I shrieked no, then explained. He was horrified. No one - no one - had thought to tell any of the college boatmen about the Weill's disease outbreak. Absolutely encapsulated the attitude the average student had to the staff.)

This attitude still prevails.

I read an article last week.about a female professor at St John's and how she coped during lockdown. She is obviously some kind of superwoman - she submitted her manuscript for a book on deadline and then gave birth to.her fourth child by cs a few hours later.... returned to teach via Zoom when baby was 10 days old. Lovely story, and in it it mentioned that her husband is a Porter at St John's.
I was telling an (ex Cambridge) friend about this and she said in disbelief "a professor married a ^porter^ as though it was unthinkable. Shades of Upstairs Downstairs

Kendal affirmed that all these instances show a continued “failure to centre trans people”, alongside the fact that trans students “are not being prioritised as they should be”.

Oh no! The true crime is revealed: failure to centre trans people. We should all be ashamed of ourselves.

Does anyone know how to contact Kevin Price? I'd like to send him a card to thank him.

Apparently he's a porter at Clare College, so anything addressed to him at the college address (Clare College Trinity Lane Cambridge CB2 1TL) will get to him.

And yes - Kings Hedges ward includes a large council estate - so yes, he represented many people struggling to to put food on the table. Absolutely mind blowing that students at the college (overwhelming NOT from the kinds of families who live in places like Kings Hedges or whose parents work as porters) are now trying to get the man sacked. We are well and truly through the looking glass.

No one - no one - had thought to tell any of the college boatmen about the Weill's disease outbreak. Absolutely encapsulated the attitude the average student had to the staff.

Truly sickening, Cara. The undisguised women-hating may be excitingly new, but the classism never went away.

No one - no one - had thought to tell any of the college boatmen about the Weill's disease outbreak. Absolutely encapsulated the attitude the average student had to the staff.

I don't agree. Students would assume that the boatmen had been informed by the university. It was a failure on the part of the university.

Regarding Kevin Price, this is very interesting because I have it on good authority that most of the Clare students knew nothing about that statement. The Students Union LGBTQ+ appears to have sent it without reference to them.

Kevin Price is well liked by the students themselves. They recognise that he and his colleagues work hard to keep them safe and supported.
Most ordinary students at Cambridge are hardworking (they have to be) and understand how lucky they are to be there. Not all are privileged or well off by any means.

I hope the other students who do appreciate and like Kevin will stand up to this and show their support for him.

James Kirkup is on the case:

www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-trans-debate-could-cost-this-cambridge-porter-his-job?

I hope the other students who do appreciate and like Kevin will stand up to this and show their support for him.

I'm sure they will

And maybe set up a petition to have the lead bullies sent down (is that the expression)? That would be amusing... Same for the Edinburgh kindergarten Uni Labour etc group.