PCS Broad Left Network firmly rejects the disgusting, irresponsible and divisive article published in the 4 August 2024 edition of the Mail on Sunday regarding respected senior trade unionist, socialist and BLN member Saorsa-Amatheia Tweedale.
The entire article hinges on a very small number of staff who work with Saorsa in the DWP writing to the Mail as they don’t like that Saorsa is a trans woman, that she advocates for trans rights and anti-discrimination, and have labelled her black, goth-style clothing as “fetish wear”. Along with contributing to a prevalent culture of abuse against the goth community and anyone who doesn’t dress in a “mainstream” way, this spotlights a centrepiece of transphobia – insisting that everything a trans person does or wears, and the very core of their existence, is some kind of sexual deviance. This is inaccurate and immoral, and is exactly the same argument that has been levelled against cis gender lesbians, gay men, and bisexual people, amongst others. The absurd claim of “sexual deviance” has also historically been used to justify hatred and discrimination against Black men and Jewish people, and is a mainstay of the far right’s abusive and highly emotive and dangerous arguments of “what about the children/(white) women who these people will convert/defile?”
It is becoming increasingly obvious even to those not actively involved with the issues, that Gender Critical beliefs threaten the freedoms and rights of all women, both cis and trans. Surely we, as a society, should have moved beyond policing women’s clothes, what a woman “should” wear and “should” look like? Furthermore, unwanted comments of a sexual nature about someone’s clothing is sexual harassment. All women are collectively harmed and controlled by enforced sexualising of our clothing and behaviour – schoolgirls are told to cover up so men and boys don’t sexualise them, women are told to watch what they wear in case they’re perceived as “asking for it”, they are told not to run at night…the list goes on.
Those “unnamed sources” attacking Saorsa are aiding and abetting the Mail in their attempts at dividing workers and are deploying unfounded claims and bigotry to do so. The BLN notes that they have gone to a newspaper renowned for stoking up hatred and funnelling attacks at vulnerable people, be they women, LGBT+, people seeking asylum, disabled people, ordinary workers striking, or any other group they decide to target for their divisive rhetoric. The Mail’s opinions on these groups that they target comes undoubtedly from the far right of the political spectrum. Ironic, as most Gender Critical “activists” attempt to cast themselves as feminists and reject the label of being far-right despite the views of their allies. One need only look at the comment section of the article to see the damage and misinformation that pieces like these can create.
Rather than engage with the worker-led, socialist programme that Saorsa and the BLN champion for all workers including women and LGBT+ people, the Mail would prefer to print personal, irrelevant and inaccurate things about her identity. They probably hope that workers are too stupid not to see this for what it plainly is – bullying someone for their appearance. That hope is, however, a forlorn one as proven at PCS annual conference 2024, where our majority-female union once again resoundingly voted to protect trans rights Conference rejected the unscientific, secondary school biology argument that women are no more than their body parts, which the Mail seeks to promote alongside their allies in the unelected House of Lords.
All ordinary workers are at risk from the Mail and their toxic agenda as they stir up hatred as a smokescreen to stop people asking fundamental questions such as: “why isn’t there a wealth tax?” or “why aren’t energy providers being forced to lower prices?” The Mail is a paper of big business, and as such encourages workers to believe they must fend for themselves while the rich get richer and poor people are isolated and divided from each other. How will eradicating trans people or asylum seekers finance a revival of the NHS to tackle waiting times? Why isn’t the government imposing rent controls to allow ordinary workers to afford to live where they choose depending on their workplace and family location? All of these questions are contrary to the Mail’s agenda of obfuscation and division, pretending, in this case, that all the world’s ills are based on what a small group of women wear while they go to work, contribute to society, and pay their taxes.
Saorsa, like all good PCS reps, acts at work to enforce existing equality policies and laws, and advocates for everyone to feel able to come to work without facing discrimination. The judges in the 2021 Forstater tribunal appeal case ruled that, while individuals may hold protected beliefs under the Equality Act 2010, “this judgment does not mean that those with gender-critical beliefs can ‘misgender’ trans persons with impunity.” Subsequent tribunal cases such as Mackereth v DWP and McBride v Scottish Government clearly show that expression of these beliefs in a way that harms or negatively impacts the rights of others may still constitute discrimination. It is clear that those holding Gender Critical beliefs have no right to use those beliefs to witch-hunt trans people in the workplace or attempt to hound their employers into dismissing them. It is right that any member of staff should be able to come to work without having to debate or defend elements of their core identity, regardless of whether a small number of their colleagues have beliefs to the contrary.
Both trans women and cis women are under threat from narrow, rigid and regressive definitions of womanhood. We are all allies and comrades in the same fight, to break free from outdated stereotypes of femininity that centre on fertility and visual appearance. We are all injured by the same prejudices such as those peddled by the Mail. So much more unites than divides us, as is the case amongst all ordinary working- and middle-class people regardless of race, religion, sex, sexuality, gender identity, disability, immigration status, or any other feature through which the likes of the hateful Mail try to divide us.
Saorsa is a staunch advocate for the equal rights of all and has the full support of the PCS Broad Left Network.
PCS Broad Left Network 