Lib Dem Women Defy Conference Trans Censors with Pamphlet Launch
Lib Dem women’s group Liberal Voice for Women will launch its new political pamphlet, Liberals and Women’s Rights, this Sunday during the party’s Conference in Bournemouth in the presence of legendary presenter and broadcaster Dame Jenni Murray.
The pamphlet, which “seeks to inform readers about why sex matters for women’s equality and how political transgenderism is impacting on their ability to hold on to their existing rights” was written and edited collectively by Liberal Voice for Women members and published in the name of the group. It contains a foreword by the group’s Chair, Dr Zoe Hollowood.
The launch event, which will be held at the Hotel Miramar on Sunday at 6pm, will feature an international line-up of speakers: researcher, writer and campaigner Raquel Rosario Sánchez, social science lecturer Dr Laura Favaro, and independent film-maker and activist Vaishnavi Sundar. The event will be chaired by Dame Jenni Murray and introduced by Lib Dem Baroness Sarah Ludford. There was a parliamentary pre-launch last Wednesday at a Freedom of Expression event hosted by Baroness Anne Jenkin in the House of Lords.
The group was banned from advertising the event in the Conference literature, despite their having been willing to pay the commercial rate.
Hollowood said, “We are thrilled to be launching our pamphlet, which is the result of years of hard work, and we could not be happier with the line-up of speakers we have booked for our event on Sunday. And obviously we couldn’t wish for a more experienced chair in Jenni Murray.
“Sadly there are some censorious forces at work in the party which means we have never been allowed to run an on-site fringe event or have a stall in the exhibition area. This means party members never get to learn about the issues and even Lib Dem politicians are sheltered from reality and end up getting in a muddle about women with penises on TV.
“It is also particularly regrettable from our perspective as it means members don’t get to hear from us directly about what we actually believe. Meanwhile smears about us continue to go unchallenged within the party.
“There is an abusive climate that leaders need to get a handle on. Recently we submitted a complaint because some party officers and councillors had shared statements likening ‘gender critical’ members - that’s those of us who believe sex is real and immutable - to ‘an infestation of pubic lice’ that needed to be ‘eliminated’. It said we needed to be made to ‘feel afraid’. We refuse to be deterred by this but it is obviously unacceptable. The complaints system decided it was fine.”
A pdf of the pamphlet can be viewed here. Hard copies available on request at Conference.
For comment or interview, please contact Dr Zoe Hollowood on 07968 043877 or zhollowood@gmail.com.
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Notes to editors:
Lib Dem Autumn Conference has already been in the news in relation to a motion on the agenda that says “menstruation is not just a women’s issue.”
Liberal Voice for Women had attempted to get Lib Dem Conference to debate a motion that would update party policy on administering puberty blockers to children but it was rejected as it was deemed that it would be “fraught, toxic and potentially very damaging”.