The Labour Party has suspended two members for saying that transsexuals who were born male are not women.
Jennifer James opposed a Labour policy of allowing men who say they are women to apply for women’s only positions within the party.
She set up an online fundraising campaign to make a legal challenge to keep Labour’s all-women shortlists female.
Blacklisted
She, along with 50 other concerned women and three men, had raised over two thirds of their £30,000 total, but James was subsequently targeted by the Labour Against Transphobia Facebook group.
The group collate evidence of ‘transphobia’ by party members so that the information can be passed on to Labour Party officials.
James received a letter notifying her of her suspension, explaining that until the investigation was over, she will be unable to attend any Party meetings, including the annual conference, and cannot stand for election at any level.
‘Trans women are men’
Another party member backing the legal action, Venice Allan, has also been suspended following a similar blacklisting, with one of the reasons being for posting a photo which read: “Trans women are men”.
Responding to her suspension, Allan tweeted: “If stating that males are men means that Labour don’t want me, quite frankly I hope they chuck me out”.
Allan was previously thrown out of an all-women’s Labour Christmas party because her presence was making Lily Madigan, a trans activist who was born male, ‘unsafe’.
’Free debate’
In an interview with Andrew Marr this weekend, Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn said that he believes men who ‘self-identify’ as women are women.
However he added that party members are “free to campaign within the party and publicly” on the issue of self-identification.