I pointed out that the Labour Party Rule Book does not refer to the Equality Act

This matters to me because it is not possible to change sex, and because women and girls suffer in various ways if men are allowed in spaces where they are vulnerable, undressed or asleep. The Equality Act 2010 provides protection for women but the law is widely misquoted and misinterpreted due to the systematic policy capture by extremist transactivists. 

Many trans people do not support the demands of transactivists for the legalisation of  ‘self-ID’ ‘gender identity’.  I’m appalled by the silencing of many academics who support the retention of existing sex-based rights for women, and by the suspension and banning from social media platforms of gender critical people  – mainly women. Safeguarding of children is also threatened by trans ‘affirmation.

I have proposed two GC (gender critical) resolutions in my Labour Party CLP.  I organised Defend Women’s Rights meetings locally. I attended several Womens Place UK meetings.  I’m active in Labour Womens Declaration Working Group. I constantly post openly on Facebook and Twitter. I am an admin of several secret GC facebook groups. 

I have emailed my MP with detail several times, as well as lobbying Labour Party NEC members and MPs. I pointed out that the Labour Party Rule Book does not refer to the Equality Act (!) and incorrectly references the protected characteristics. (Unchanged in 2020 edition) 

I am writing my story “Musing on the sex and gender morass: how my life changed on 18th Nov 2017”  (when I found out about transactivist demands for Self-ID  

I have lost two dear friends as a consequence of my views on sex and gender. Very painful… And I think probably many other less close friends and acquaintances will have distanced themselves. Hard to know. Most people I think say nothing, knowing that it’s ‘toxic’ 

I have repeatedly been called ‘bigoted’ ‘hateful’  ‘transphobic’ – none of which are true.  I left the Labour Party because of this in 2018 and then decided to rejoin in 2019 – but was rejected as a member because I ‘mis-gendered’ a young man who identifies as a woman, and had been elected as a women’s office in the party. (and because I’m a supporter of Palestinian rights) Currently awaiting appeal hearing 8 months later. It’s been my choice to proritise this issue, but that has come at a very significant cost.

Diane Jones, Socialist feminist, retired researcher. Art music literature for sanity retention