The English and Welsh Greens leadership election is proceeding with hustings and debates the results come end of August.
Things are likely to really kick off at the Green Party women's hustings where pro-women members tend to congregate;
Green Party Women #ForWomenAndPlanet
📣 Green Party Women event. Quick! Register!
🗣️ GPEW Leadership Hustings
🗓️ Friday, 25 July: 20.00
❓ What questions do you want the future leadership of GPEW to answer?
🙋🏽♀️ What’s key for women & girls?
📲 Link👇🏼 for an instant email/access code
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/zBAE5wnnQOq2QO2xtVHpVA#/registration
Already a fairly bland, but still genderist response from Chowns to a question about Trans matters at another hstings has lead to the usual accusations online that she is a raging bigot. Meanwhile Polanski is in denial of the implications of the Supreme Court judgement. There are court cases outstanding most notably Emma Bateman. See for yourself:
East Midlands Green Party Conference 2025 - Leadership Hustings Zack Polanksi & Ellie Chowns
The question: Um, next question um is uh so what do you think the key issues facing are facing the trans community in the UK and as party leader what steps would you take to address them?
TRANSCRIPT OF POLANSKI'S REPLY
The answer: Um I think the core thing facing the trans community in the UK is often not having one single political party that stands with them unconditionally and says that trans rights are human rights a trans man is a man a trans woman is a woman and non-binary identities they're valid. So I think the first thing we need to do in the Green Party is be really clear about our values. Yes, we are a broad church, but broad churches have walls. And for me, one of those walls is if you are going to misgender someone, if you do it once accidentally, everyone's done that. But if it's repeatedly, I would say that is harassment. And that should have no space in a party that considers itself progressive. more widely outside of the political spaces. I think health care is clearly a huge issue um for trans people, not just the kind of traditional uh trans healthcare, but actually just using a GP appointment uh on a daily basis or or whenever you go to the GP, this is known as I think broken leg or broken arms arm syndrome. Then if a trans person goes to a GP or a medical practitioner, they see a person as a trans person rather than seeing them as a person with a with a symptom that anyone else might have. I think on top of that as well is the very very hostile media towards trans people. I always remember what Graeme Norton said when he was interviewed about this and I would repeat this a little bit the question is don't ask me about a trans person like don't speak to a trans person and let's make sure that we have more trans people in our national media who are able to speak for their community. And I suppose I'm slightly aware as a Jewish person that I don't speak for all Jewish people and not one trans person speaks for all trans people. But it is very noticeable that in the the media landscape, the absence of having a trans first in the media landscape is very obvious. And the final thing I would say is that I do believe in a politics of inclusion. I do believe in a politics where there's no stupid questions and people are able to ask questions. I think the Green Party has unique space and a unique ability to be able to do that. I just think very often in the past when that's been done, there have been bad faith in those spaces. So as leader I want to relook at how do we create those conditions where people are able to have conditions sorry able to have conversation but you know to come back to the first thing I think the precondition of those conversations has to be a respectful space where the most marginalized person in the space is able to know that that's a safe environment for them and I don't think that's too difficult to do. I think we are a compassionately party and I absolutely believe we can do that when we remember we're on the same side and actually the real problem here is reform and the future of the Labour party.
TRANSCRIPT OF CHOWN'S REPLY
The answer: I think the question was what do I think the main challenge facing trans people in the UK is at the moment and I'm going to answer this reflecting on what my trans constituents have said to me, and I've actually just been writing to to to a number of them um this week, and they've told me um that they feel uh they experienced prejudice, discrimination. They've told me they feel fear about the implications of the Supreme Court judgment and the the HRC guidance in particular. They feel hope. They've told me that we will get to a better place as a society on contested issues. um and they told me they want me to advocate for them and to um understand 2their concerns. And I've met with many of my trans constituents in my constituency surgery. Of course, I've had trans uh colleagues, family members like all of us for for years. Um, but it's been really important for me, I think, to listen to the voices of my trans constituents um, in recent months in particular and to think about how I can best represent them and um, and advocate for them. And recognizing, of course, the point that Zach made very validly, you know, just because you're Jewish doesn't mean you speak Jews. Just because you're trans doesn't mean you speak for all trans people. And there's a really there is a diversity of views among everybody. Um, as a non-trans person, I think it's really important that uh that I listen, I reaffirm it's absolutely fine to be trans. It's absolutely a valid identity. Being trans is real. Absolutely. And non-binary, of course. And I I'm sort of distressed personally, I suppose, just speaking very personally, by the um the the lack of compassion that is sometimes there in the debate over trans rights um among a range of people. And I'm not saying this is on one side or another at all. I think that we all really need to listen to each other. I think we all need to avoid jumping to conclusions about each other. I think we need as a party to be able to have open conversations about contested issues and that's not just about fights could be about I know HS2 want all sorts of issues but there's there are sometimes issues where things seem to really get very crunchy and as a party I think compassion needs to be our absolute guiding principle um and we absolutely can respect fact that there is a ruling in in law that is clarifying the difference between biology and and social gender. Um yes, there's a difference between sex and gender and at the same time we can continue to be we absolutely must continue to be a party that is supportive of trans rights, welcoming by trans brothers and sisters and upholding human rights and dignity for everybody. Thank you.