Green Party Women EGM - Klaxon Call

[TheGreatATuin]

Green Party women, please join the online EGM on Monday 7.00pm -8.30. You can find a link and details by logging into the Green Spaces website.

The committee has been hobbled by an out of date constitution, as well as endless activists doing their best to shut them down at every turn, and they need women to help vote for a new constitution so they can do more for women, instead of being constantly scuppered.
There are a lot of men on twitter currently trying to recruit votes against the incredible hard work and progress made by the current committee.
If you are a woman and a member of the Green Party, you are eligible to be a member of Green Party Women and can vote.

Please, please do.

So much of this fight is extremely frustrating because it feels we are fighting an uphill battle, but this is one thing where just an hour and a half attending an online meeting and voting can make a huge difference.
If you know any other Green Party women, please remind them of the vote on Monday.

will there be any guidance about the voting?

Bump for you

I'm not completely sure. I can find out. I do know that we want women to vote FOR the new constitution.
The current committee is also feminist and quite sensible (the TRAs on the committee all quit in a strop earlier this year because things weren't going their way), so if the committee is putting a proposal through, it's probably fair to assume that its a pro-women one.

an idiots guide would be helpful, if the committee are reading this

Will definitely log on and vote

It turns out I got at least some of it wrong. The EGM is still on Monday but the vote is going to go out by email. Its going to go out to GPW members, but to be eligible you'll need to be signed up to GPW with the same email address that's registered with GP membership.

Thank you, I'll try to log on. It's bedtime for kids so I may need to mute and watch...

You can still vote even if you miss the meeting.

StillWeRise, I'm not on the committee but this one is pretty straightforward. GPW had to update their constitution as it didn't comply with....how they do constitutions now? Something like that.

As well as bringing the constitution into line with the new format, they have dropped the "and non-binary members" after women. Which would mean you have to identify as a woman to vote in future.
Previously any non-man could vote - because that's what defines women, their not-men status.

I doubt it will get approved as they need a two thirds majority but maybe that is part of their strategy?

I would be happy for any female however they identify to have a vote but there are several women who seem determined that non-binary males should be included but avoid saying that explicitly and don't really explain why. As Greens we have to "assume the best" but if I didn't have to I would think they want to stack the vote.

So I will vote for the new constitution then wait and see the next move when it doesn't get passed.

Probably going to name change now, just in case.

Yes, sorry I got it wrong. You don't need to attend the meeting. The email will be sent out after

This is what they've sent out:

Green Party Women are holding an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Monday 14th November 7.00 – 8.00 pm

After the meeting an online ballot will be open for 1 week to vote on adopting a new constitution.

Please vote for the new constitution

The current constitution allows anyone who is gender variant (i.e everyone) to vote or stand for the committee in Green Party Women. The new constitution makes the radical proposal that voting rights should be just for women.
The proposed constitution is here

The Green Party boys are getting upset, because the new constitution would mean they can no longer dominate the women's group, so if you are a Green Party member, please make sure you join Green Party Women before Monday. Use the email address you have linked to your GPEW account to get a vote.

You do not have to attend the EGM to get a vote

Voting
After the EGM, the link to vote will be emailed to current members of Green Party Women. It will be sent to the email address you have registered with your GPEW account, so please can you make sure that the email you used to sign up to Green Party Women is the same as the email you have registered with GPEW

I’m still in the Greens but I’ll be frank, I’m leaving after this vote. In the 12 months I’ve been a member, I’ve come to the conclusion many in the party don’t give a shit about the environment, it’s just promotion of gender ideology.

Honestly, there are many working hard behind the scenes. I know Gp members and those standing to be elected to Council positions who've recently realised what's going on and are taking a stand on this as well as their priority green issues.

last time I raised this with GP councillors I got very noncommittal responses (I went to some lengths to show how these issues could manifest at a local level) and the parliamentary candidate didn't even bother to answer
I really hope you're right WarriorN

I’ll check emails and will vote. Fingers crossed xx

The meeting is this evening from 7 till 8pm on Zoom. I've had an email inviting me to join, with links to the current constitution and the proposed one also. It's all very clear so please do come to the meeting and vote!

I certainly know of a few.

Do we need to vote tonight? I don't think I can log on.

Apols:

Following the meeting, members will be invited to vote on whether to accept or reject the new constitution, and a link to do so will be sent out in a separate email when the ballot opens just before 8.00pm tonight. The link will only be sent to subscribers who are members of GPEW and Green Party Women, and it will be sent to the email address linked to your GPEW account.
If you don't receive the email and you think you are eligible to vote, please email [email protected]uk_* as soon as possible with your name and local party (check your spam folder first!).
Voting will close on Monday 21-11-22 at 12 noon

The new constitution requires a two thirds majority to pass, otherwise the current constitution will remain in place.

The book club books sounds good :)

I'm not available till probably half 7 or later, but I will vote if its on email.

Mandy Vere answered the tricky gender questions very well. 👏

Yes, and very clearly.

If the proposed constitution says that only women can hold office and have the right to vote in Green Party Women, does that still include transwomen and other males who say they identify as women?

I loved how the 'diversity' questions & comments were correctly interpreted, i.e. around various protected characteristics other than gender reassignment, when that was what the questioner usually appeared to be thinking of (or maybe that was just me). It was putting the gender woo in its place but very nicely and politely.

I've not kept up really with what's been going on, just appearing now and again to lend my support with issues such as this and I only joined the GP anyway to try to get it back on track as it truly seems to be fiddling while Rome burns. But I was wondering, on reading the existing GPW constitution this evening, about the inclusion of 'gender variant' in matters clearly concerning girls and women. If you won't even admit to being a woman why should you vote on matters concerning us?

Seems somewhat paternalistic and patronising to me. Oops, those 'pater' words, tut tut.

I have voted.

If I understood it correctly, @Ofcourseshecan, we are on our honour to be the thing we call ourselves. They are not defining 'woman' so they will take us at our word.

Looking at some of those people at the meeting .... hmm.

I thought I had misheard or misunderstood, Rightsraptor. After all the misogyny openly displayed in the Green Party, we're now just going to trust men to respect women?y

quite, it seemed a bit of a fudge to me
what's to stop a man calling himself a woman?
isn't this just postponing an almighty row when a man does decide he wants to join/vote?

Postponing it or bringing into sharp relief? I don't know. But those 'gender variants' and 'NB' would presumably have to declare themselves women?