Hundreds of women to quit Labour over transgender candidate row

Mayday4Women group claims party ‘takes
women for granted’

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Under the recent change to shortlist rules – which are used to
select candidates, from parliamentary elections down to local
government – Labour will “guarantee candidates the right to
self-identify as female without the need for a medical test or
other certification showing that they [have] biologically changed
sex”, reports the Daily Mail.

A draft resignation letter penned by Labour activist group
Mayday4Women warns that its supporters “cannot continue to be
in a party that takes women for granted”.

The letter, sent to The Times, continues: “We are dismayed at the
Labour Party’s support for sex as a self-identified characteristic
for all-women shortlists.

“We now face a situation in which any man can simply claim to be
a woman and be included on all-women shortlists.

“Sex is not a self-defined characteristic and it is disingenuous
for Labour to pretend that it is. Self-identity – ‘I am what I say
I am’ – reeks of male authority and male supremacy.

“In contrast, women are rarely believed about the sexual
violence we face or about harassment on the streets and domestic
violence in the home. It is for that reason that we – alongside 300
other women – are resigning from the Labour Party today.”

A party spokesperson responded: “All women shortlists are and
always have been open to all women, which of course includes trans
women. The Labour Party recognises the vital importance of
self-definition for the trans community. The Labour Party continues
to have an inclusive definition of women.”

Leigh Drennan, a councillor and vice-chair of Young Labour,
believes much of the debate relates to “casual
transphobia”. 

Speaking to The Observer, he said: “I think that the
overwhelming majority of the Labour Party certainly support the
inclusion of trans women on all-women shortlists. In 40 years’ time
people will look back and view campaigns for the exclusion of trans
women as bizarre.”