Case summary
Sara Morrison (SM) was the Inclusion and Audience Development Co-ordinator at Belfast Film Festival (BFF). She has an adult trans-identifying son, helped re-establish rape crisis services in Northern Ireland after a 13-year gap, and believes women’s organisations should maintain women-only spaces for vulnerable women.
Sara spoke at a Let Women Speak event in Belfast on 16 April 2023, criticising several women’s and advocacy organisations for abandoning single-sex principles. She did not identify herself or her employer, but she was recognised.
A targeted online campaign began within hours, tagging BFF and demanding she be dismissed. Sara experienced sustained online abuse and became socially isolated.
Watch the footage here (Sara starts at 1hr 4mins): https://www.youtube.com/live/-LF5Nn-rNfY?si=lWBGMVszjqOlHH_O
She informed BFF Director Michele Devlin (MD), who initially responded supportively. In June 2023, Michele raised concerns about Sara’s views, said the BFF Board had been shown her speech, and questioned her about sharing facilities with trans-identifying people. Sara continued working visibly through the BFF documentary season without incident.
In July 2023, during planning for Belfast Pride, an LGBT arts organisation publicly labelled Sara a “transphobic bigot,” triggering another online pile-on. BFF issued a public statement saying it was “investigating,” which intensified the pressure. An external HR investigation followed. Sara was advised to work from home, lost access to email and shared drives, and was asked to return her office keys. She felt frozen out, viewed the investigation as biased, initiated a grievance, went on sick leave, and began medication.
While she was off sick, MD attended Belfast Pride wearing a “Trans Inclusive Feminist” t-shirt and posted photos online before deleting them.
In June 2024, journalist Jo Bartosch shared Sara’s crowdfunding campaign https://x.com/jo_bartosch/status/1798410239730982919, which was amplified by JK Rowling https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/1798434418023112789.
In November 2024, Sara resigned from BFF and claimed constructive dismissal.
Sara’s case, Morrison v Belfast Film Festival, is legally significant because in Great Britain, the Forstater ruling (2021, upheld 2022) confirmed that gender-critical beliefs are protected as a philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010. However, the Equality Act does not apply in Northern Ireland, which instead uses a patchwork of older anti-discrimination laws (including the Sex Discrimination Order 1976 and the Fair Employment and Treatment Order 1998).
How Forstater and the subsequent For Women Scotland Supreme Court ruling interact with Northern Ireland’s legislation is unresolved. As a result, this tribunal in Belfast the following week is being treated as a test case.
Sara is represented by barristers Naomi Cunningham and Charlotte Elves, as well as solicitor Simon Chambers.
Summary extracted from Nick Wallis’ blog about the case: https://genderblog.net/sara-morrison-v-belfast-film-festival/
The Employment Tribunal hearing started on Monday 10 November and is expected to last at least two weeks.