Whistleblowers at EHRC say that Kishwer Falkner is the victim of a 'witch-hunt by trans lobby'

[IwantToRetire]

Relations are said to have soured after she backed legal reforms guarding the rights of biological women in single-sex spaces such as hospital wards and toilets.

The employees at the Equality and Human Rights Commission are said to have compiled a dossier, setting out more than 40 complaints aimed at Baroness Falkner by a dozen current and former colleagues. A source said: 'People within the organisation are deeply concerned that this is a witch-hunt.

'The timing is extremely questionable. There is no doubt in my mind that this is ideologically motivated and is a way to take a scalp in revenge. ...

Baroness Falkner is said to have been left 'heartbroken' by the allegations but those close to her said her 'conscience was clear'. They branded the move by EHRC staff a 'failed coup d'etat'. 

Members of the commission's board, which is headed by Baroness Falkner, have called for an overhaul of the 2010 Equality Act, which refers to gender and sex interchangeably.

They argue it should be amended to explicitly define sex as 'biological sex' to bring legal clarity in areas including sport and ensure only 'biological women' can use single-sex spaces.

Staff from the executive team were said to having been pushing to allow for gender self-identification, allowing trans people to state their chosen gender without any medical diagnosis.

A second source said: 'The executive just refused to accept the board's decision. There were strenuous efforts to reject it and it was around this time allegations were starting to be made. 

'There is a very progressive, activist-inclined staff who are influenced by organisations and groups like Stonewall.'

The source said senior executives had grown accustomed to calling the shots at the commission but this changed when Baroness Falkner took over to provide 'real leadership'.

They said the complaints felt like a move to 'get her', adding: 'This process of finding fault with Kishwer is clearly political.' The dossier is said to have made claims of discrimination, including transphobia, bullying and harassment. ...

Full story (sorry!) at DM https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12112707/Whistleblowers-human-rights-commission-say-boss-facing-witch-hunt-trans-lobby.html

[PriOn1]

The Channel 4 News special is expected to suggest staff fear the EHRC is no longer independent and has colluded with the Government to undermine trans rights.

These tactics are so underhand. Rather than going through appropriate channels, they are attempting a coup by undermining everything. I hope that whoever is in charge of the EHRC stands firm.

[Ramblingnamechanger]

Well this was inevitable. It is now clear exactly who is being bullied and who is doing the bullying.

[IwantToRetire]

staff fear the EHRC is no longer independent and has colluded with the Government to undermine trans rights

Well they would say that wouldn't they. It is far more likely:

the Board fear the EHRC is no longer independent and staff have colluded with Stonewall to undermine women's rights

[ResisterRex]

There are two other articles on this in the Mail:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12112767/Baroness-faced-backlash-left-wing-MPs-publicly-backing-female-spaces.html

www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-12112743/ANDREW-PIERCE-5ft-heroine-standing-campaign-hatred-militant-trans-lobby.html

Some of the detail in the main article in the OP is extraordinary. For example, how can adults at work - the place of work being the body charged with overseeing everyone's rights - not discuss online abuse if they can't be allowed to know what the abuse even says?:

"Among the accusations facing Baroness Falkner is that she referred to a trans quiz show contestant as a 'bloke in lipstick' during a meeting.
However, a source last night insisted the comment had been taken out of context and that Baroness Falkner had simply been highlighting the level of abuse directed at trans women online."

How could others know what they're talking about if the words used online can't be outlined? As for this:

"'There are pages of it – on one page it says she didn't control the meeting well enough, and on the other it says she was too controlling.'"

Who works there: Goldilocks?! This meeting is too controlled. This one's not controlled enough!!

This is telling:

"The source said senior executives had grown accustomed to calling the shots at the commission but this changed when Baroness Falkner took over to provide 'real leadership'."

It sounds like the EHRC started to function as it should, as per its structure. Which some seem to have found unacceptable, perhaps influencing the decision not to use the proper processes:

"Both sources the Mail has spoken to say the complainants failed to raise the issues via the correct channels at the time, instead choosing to compile the dossier, which has led to a costly independent KC-led investigation."

My thoughts on reading all this weren't that far away from Maya's:

"Women's rights campaigner Maya Forstater said: 'Kishwer Falkner has turned the EHRC around from being an organisation that was committed to gender ideology to one that is doing its job to protect everyone's human rights.

'We have seen Kishwer Falkner and the EHRC come under the same kind of bullying and harassment that ordinary women at work face.'"

[ResisterRex]

There also seems to have been another "protest" outside the EHRC yesterday?

twitter.com/mforstater/status/1660705496922300418?s=46&t=WHoOZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ

Sex Matters has a log of the attacks on them by various organisations:

sex-matters.org/ehrc-timeline/

[Shelefttheweb]

Staff from the executive team were said to having been pushing to allow for gender self-identification, allowing trans people to state their chosen gender without any medical diagnosis.

This is a clear political move and the staff should be sacked for failing to maintain impartiality. This is especially important when EHRC has been charged with drawing up statutory guidance.

[Helleofabore]

Wasn’t the EHRC headquarters pissbombed last week?

https://twitter.com/robertr46589940/status/1658347668307947523?s=46&t=HTxp6zC_d4GZ2FFv4a-YeQ

What is it about these male people and spreading their piss everywhere?

Don’t worry, I suspect I know.

[OldCrone]

Staff from the executive team were said to having been pushing to allow for gender self-identification, allowing trans people to state their chosen gender without any medical diagnosis.

In other words:

"Staff from the executive team were said to having been pushing to allow for sex self-identification, allowing everyone to state their chosen sex without any medical diagnosis."

This would obviously destroy the category of sex in the EA2010.

[HereForTheFreeLunch]

Any emails or cards to send?
I am extremely grateful to her for standing up and being counted and wouldn't like her to feel alone and heartbroken.

[MrsOvertonsWindow]

@Helleofabore

Wasn’t the EHRC headquarters pissbombed last week?

https://twitter.com/robertr46589940/status/1658347668307947523?s=46&t=HTxp6zC_d4GZ2FFv4a-YeQ

What is it about these male people and spreading their piss everywhere?

Don’t worry, I suspect I know.

It's not a fetish!!

Women and girls should be thrilled to share private spaces with men like this.

[NotHavingIt]

I was watching a programme last week about the rise of Recep Tayyip Erdodgan ( the president of turkey) ahead of last weekend's election ( It is going to a run-off because no-one secured the outright majority).

He's been in power for 20 years now and the way he has achieved that is, in large part, been down to controlling the message and the narrative. This has been achieved by eliminating non-aligned media sources; imprisoning 'dissident' academics, journalists and opposition politicians.

He has been aided in this endeavour by a relgious cleric - who ran religious schools and educated a generation of young people who then sought to eneter into every walk of civil and public life - so as to influence policy and practice.

[ResisterRex]

@Shelefttheweb

Staff from the executive team were said to having been pushing to allow for gender self-identification, allowing trans people to state their chosen gender without any medical diagnosis.

This is a clear political move and the staff should be sacked for failing to maintain impartiality. This is especially important when EHRC has been charged with drawing up statutory guidance.

They can't say they didn't know about political neutrality:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/09/04/equality-regulators-staff-given-impartiality-training-part-overhaul/

Equality regulator's staff given 'impartiality training' as part of overhaul

"Some 200 employees and commissioners at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) took part in sessions addressing "what impartiality means for the organisation" and how the concept should be applied to the body's work.
The training is understood to have been championed by Baroness Falkner of Margravine, who took over as EHRC chairman last year and was described by Liz Truss, the equalities minister, as "ready to challenge dangerous groupthink".
A source briefed on the sessions said they were intended to ensure that staff "do not adopt the political positions of activists and lobby groups". The training was conducted internally by EHRC staff.
The disclosure comes weeks after Lady Falkner told The Telegraph that she wanted the regulator to demonstrate that "we are the equality body for everyone", as she admitted that it had previously been seen to have "got lost in ... rabbit holes that are quite esoteric"."

[OldGardinia]

"Among the accusations facing Baroness Falkner is that she referred to a trans quiz show contestant as a 'bloke in lipstick' during a meeting.
However, a source last night insisted the comment had been taken out of context and that Baroness Falkner had simply been highlighting the level of abuse directed at trans women online."

I don't think the problem is what they think the problem is. That it is "taken out of context". I think the problem is that you have people in this organization that feel obliged to justify calling a bloke in lipstick a bloke in lipstick at all. That's what he is! It's neither abuse nor inaccurate to describe him as such.

Some people have a consensus seeking mindset. That can be good in many circumstances. In others it can be disastrous. A saw a sign over a bridge once where someone had scrawled "you can't appease your way out of authoritarianism". And middle ground seeking with fanatics and ideologues is doomed to fail.

If someone says 'no, no - the context of calling him a bloke in lipstick made it alright' then they're the wrong person to be leading a fight. At some point you have to switch your mindset to a confrontational one.

[SinnerBoy]

PriOn1 · Today 01:51

The Channel 4 News special is expected to suggest staff fear the EHRC is no longer independent and has colluded with the TRA groups to undermine women's rights.

There, fixed it for them.

[SinnerBoy]

RegisterRex

"The source said senior executives had grown accustomed to calling the shots at the commission but this changed when Baroness Falkner took over to provide 'real leadership'."

It sounds as though the senior executives have been used to having their own way and don't like the fact that they need to follow the leadership chain properly. Not to mention, acting in a highly partial manner, with no regard to their job descriptions, nor training on impartiality.

If they don't like it, I'm sure that MacDonalds are hiring.

[BernardBlacksMolluscs]

The pettiness of the allegations is unbelievable, including someone rolling their eyes at a certain time and someone speaking on a topic for too long

and a woman in charge accused of being too controlling. It’s good to see the old classics getting an airing

[Shelefttheweb]

The Channel 4 News special is expected to show how they have become a propaganda tool for trans extremists

[ArabeIIaScott]

Thank goodness the EHRC is finally finding its feet on these issues.

I'm sure being 'pissbombed' and having senior staff witch-hunted will convince them that trans activists are totally rational, fair minded, and capable of good faith discussion.

[Clymene]

I applaud Baroness Falkner for standing up for the rights of women and girls in the face of such hostility.

[Redebs]

@MrsOvertonsWindow

It's not a fetish!!

Women and girls should be thrilled to share private spaces with men like this.

Aggression

[ResisterRex]

Mail spread:

https://twitter.com/paoladiana/status/1660914825898127361?s=46&t=WHoOZZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ

Mail front page:

twitter.com/mforstater/status/1660765625726164999?s=46&t=WHoOZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ

[Datun]

@OldGardinia

"Among the accusations facing Baroness Falkner is that she referred to a trans quiz show contestant as a 'bloke in lipstick' during a meeting.
However, a source last night insisted the comment had been taken out of context and that Baroness Falkner had simply been highlighting the level of abuse directed at trans women online."

I don't think the problem is what they think the problem is. That it is "taken out of context". I think the problem is that you have people in this organization that feel obliged to justify calling a bloke in lipstick a bloke in lipstick at all. That's what he is! It's neither abuse nor inaccurate to describe him as such.

Some people have a consensus seeking mindset. That can be good in many circumstances. In others it can be disastrous. A saw a sign over a bridge once where someone had scrawled "you can't appease your way out of authoritarianism". And middle ground seeking with fanatics and ideologues is doomed to fail.

If someone says 'no, no - the context of calling him a bloke in lipstick made it alright' then they're the wrong person to be leading a fight. At some point you have to switch your mindset to a confrontational one.

At some point you have to switch your mindset to a confrontational one.

Agreed. It's patently obvious that this is an ideology beloved by people for all sorts of reasons, some clearly nefarious.

Attempts to control the narrative, should be met head on, unfiltered. Especially when the control is expressly designed to prevent people expressing their concerns.

One of the many reasons why the support for Kellie Jay Keen continues to grow.

[ArabeIIaScott]

the control is expressly designed to prevent people expressing their concerns

As highlighted yesterday by Reem Alsalem of the UN.

[senua]

Wouldn't it be great if GC workers at EHRC felt emboldened to issue their dossier of complaints.

[ResisterRex]

There's another thread on the piss protest, linking to this thread, one part of which now reads different in light of the information about EHRC staff:

"So the operational head of the EHRC has no answers yet sits silently while his organisation plays a key part in stripping rights and protections away from trans people. It's absolutely disgusting."

twitter.com/helencbelcher/status/1643909661895147520?s=46&t=WHoOZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ

You have to wonder if the previous setup was that some of the staff did the bidding of lobbyists. And now that's being changed.