Scottish civil servant dismissed over ‘gender views’ seeks employment tribunal

A former civil servant is taking the Scottish Government to an employment tribunal alleging that he was dismissed because of his views on biological sex.

Kenny McBride claims that he was fired from Transport Scotland after asking if there were plans for a staff network that defends biological reality among civil servants.

At Westminster, the Sex Equality and Equity Network (SEEN) was launched last year and aims to help civil servants exercise their freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

‘Hostile comments’

After posting his question on the Scottish Government’s internal social networking site, McBride said he received “extremely hostile comments” and a call from his employers accusing him of sending harassing emails.

He alleges he was dismissed less than a day after raising a complaint about the hostile comments and being labelled as a “Terf”, an acronym for ‘trans-exclusionary radical feminist’.

McBride said: “My goal is to force the Scottish government to end its hostility to civil servants who believe that sex matters”.

Binary and immutable

SEEN membership is open to all UK civil servants and public sector staff – from central government departments, agencies, and their associated public bodies, including arm’s length bodies.

The cross-government network is committed to protecting the belief that “biological sex is binary and immutable” and that “biological sex matters for both women and men in our everyday lives”.