Allison Bailey: Gender-critical barrister's tribunal starts

A case brought by a lesbian barrister suing her employer and an LGBTQ charity for discrimination has got under way.

Allison Bailey argues that she was discriminated against by Stonewall and her chambers due to her gender-critical beliefs, including that a woman should be defined as an "adult human female".

The tribunal had been due to start on Wednesday but Ms Bailey collapsed and was taken to hospital the night before.

But witnesses were called on Friday to give evidence on the central claims.

Ms Bailey is suing Stonewall and her employer, Garden Court Chambers, arguing they discriminated against her gender-critical beliefs, including that sex is biological and cannot change.

She argues that the discrimination she faced caused her to suffer "various detriments", including a loss of work and a consequent fall in her income.

The barrister has raised nearly £500,000 to fund her legal case, which includes the assertion that more women than men are likely to hold gender-critical beliefs.

Two witnesses from gender-critical organisations - director of Fair Play for Women (FPW) Dr Nicola Williams and director of Woman's Place UK Dr Judith Green (WPU) - were questioned about Ms Bailey's assertion, made as part of her case, that women are more likely to support gender-critical feminism than men.

Neither organisation had a database of their supporters, the tribunal heard, but both maintained that the majority of their supporters were female.

FPW's Dr Williams said half the group's donors identified themselves and 90% of those identified donors were women.

Andrew Hochhauser, counsel for Garden Court Chambers, showed the tribunal a 2020 survey by YouGov, which found that women were more likely than men to agree with the assertion that "transgender women are women".

He asked Dr Williams how this was consistent with the assertion that women were more likely to support gender-critical beliefs than men.

"I accept the gender identity of a transgender person," she said. "But I say that sometimes when sex matters, their sex has to be taken into account as well.

"When it comes to occasions where sex matters, that is what we talk about, and that is why we see lots of female people at meetings."

The tribunal, being held at Central London Employment Tribunal at Victory House, continues.

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