Jeremy Corbyn’s support for men to self-identify as women is alienating Labour Party supporters.
The Labour leader reiterated his position last month, and the Party has also opened up some female-only posts to men who say they are women in recent weeks.
Writing on the parenting website Mumsnet, one woman described herself as “a staunch Corbynite, and party activist” but his remarks on transsexualism had prompted her to turn away from the Labour leader.
‘Important issue’
Another Labour supporter, who said she had campaigned for the Party in the General Election, said: “This is a very important issue for me and I believe for women in general.”
She added that if self-identification was introduced, she may not vote for the Party.
“I fervently hope that he is also interested in listening with an open mind to feminist concerns”, she commented.
‘Dismissal’
Another Mumsnet user asked if people are allowed to self-identify as women, whether that means they can also seek to change their race and age simply by stating it.
Jane Merrick in The Independent noted that among many issues being discussed on Mumsnet, “transgender rights and, specifically, gender self-identification and the party’s position on allowing trans women onto all women shortlists” are dominant.
She said: “One user described Labour’s policies as a ‘complete dismissal of women’ while others said they would refuse to vote for the party until its policy on self-identification changes.”
Suspended
The criticism follows a number of Party controversies on transsexualism:
– In July, Jeremy Corbyn said he believed men who ‘self-identify’ as women are women – a view he repeated in an interview with Andrew Marr last month.
– The Party opened its female-only youth posts to men who say they are women.
– And last month it was revealed that Labour had suspended two members for saying that transsexuals who were born male are not women.
Debate
Mr Corbyn has said party members are “free to campaign within the party and publicly” on the issue of self-identification.
Theresa May has also spoken of reviewing current laws on transsexualism, noting that she wants to ensure “transgender rights are supported”.