Thread by @LibVoice4Women

In this second post on the revisionism currently going through the @LibDems is the general acceptance that the quotas do need to change and so now clearly everyone is saying 'why didn't someone do something sooner?' Of course we first tried in 2023 after the first FWS case. 🧵

The above is a fairly typical response from the trans lobby. Already in 2023 it was clear that self-ID couldn't be used as the basis of quotas and allowing non-binary people into both the men's and women's quotas was inherently unfair. But we were told to leave for raising it.

That wasn't the only abuse we received for daring to try to make the quotas compliant with the Equality Act. Councillors and Party Officers liked and shared messages likening us to a pubic lice infestation & speculating how much insecticide it would take get rid of us.

And there's more where that came from! The complaints system did nothing. Called it free speech. Imagine if anyone had said this about trans people - they would be rightly sanctioned if not removed from the Party. liberalvoiceforwomen.org/blog/open-lett…

By 2025 it was even clearer the quotas needed to be amended following the FWS Supreme Court ruling which also dealt with GRCs and the EqA saying provisions in the EqA about sex referred to biological sex. However we still weren't allowed to even debate changing the quotas.

All the usual tropes came out 'bigots', 'transphobic' etc all because we wanted to help put the quotas right in the Party and make them lawful. People have said we should put in complaints but really, what's the point? The trans lobby are allowed to say what they like about us.

We'd spent months writing to Party leaders and we even paid for expert legal advice to show that the quotas were incompatible with the law. Still no-one was ready to support us or bring their own 'official' amendment. Link to our legal advice is in here: liberalvoiceforwomen.org/blog/fair-and-…

However it seems following a discussion with the Party's KC there is a general acceptance by the trans lobby that the quotas do need to change. LGBT+ Lib Dems are still saying the sex-based quota needs to be 'trans inclusive' - but it is! Everyone has a sex.

Of course what they mean is allowing trans people to still claim to be the opposite sex which is incompatible with the law. At some point that Rubicon will need to be crossed by the Party bringing its own official amendment to quotas. They need to learn Plus will never be happy

In the meantime the latest Federal Appeals Panel ruling contains quite a lot that agrees with our original premise around the quotas and is satisfying to see. Rules the original 2.5 was 'infelicitously drafted.'

Also contains this nugget. The trans lobby - however strongly they feel - cannot induce a breach of the Equality Act (also see s.112 of Equality Act)

Full ruling here. Steady but painful progress is being made but after years of shutting down debate on the basis that any debate was motivated by 'transphobia' - for trans activists to now claim something should have been done sooner is hypocritical.(end) libdems.org.uk/fileadmin/grou…