Cancel culture is anti-working class and alien to the tradition of sharp, open democratic debate long cherished in the labour movement. If you have a fundamental disagreement in this area with @SBSisters then argue your case but you cannot put yourselves before & actively seek>
to damage others fighting oppression to the detriment of BAME women and the entire movement & expect to serve trans interests. I will link arms with you against govt cuts, against waiting lists for healthcare or against attacks on the right of trans people to not be unjustly >
discriminated against or suffer violence and at the same time I will argue strongly against what I see as the sexism, misogyny & authoritarian elitism of your particular conception of trans rights and the way it undermines all those struggles. That is the Labour movement way. >
It is not Pragna Patel or Women’s Place or GC trans people like me who are the source of this toxic divisiveness, it is those who demand they’ll only unite or even engage with those who agree with all their core demands whilst trying to slander & ostracise everyone who doesn’t. >
This is a recipie for a divided Labour movement that the Tories and the far right will exploit. When workers go on strike they do not all agree, many hold elements of sexist or arguably racist or transphobic views but we recognise that as working people we have more in common >
than what divides us. Many of us recognise we must engage, cooperate & unite against the boss, against the establishment or indeed against far right thugs or violent/sexual abusers despite serious, sharp & painful differences. We should always challenge racist, sexist & other >
oppressive ideas not only because they’re wrong morally but perhaps most pertinently because they undermine our interests as the vast bulk of humanity by keeping us divided & weak in the face of an out of control system of greed & corruption & the powerful 1% who sit atop it >
benefiting from the growing exploitation of people and planet. So it’s vital we put a challenge to such ideas within the labour movement whilst otherwise engaging, cooperating, whilst otherwise uniting against the rich & powerful few who exploit us all & foster divide-and-rule >
racism, nationalism, sexism & the oppressive notions of gender that arose from it. If standing up for women’s right to speak about their lived reality is anti-trans rights then at least some of the ‘rights’ you’re claiming are anti-woman. This is becoming clear to more & more >
people. When you erase sex for ‘gender identity’ you erase females as a sex, as a meaningful, independent, oppressed political category. #NoDebate authoritarianism has been a disastrous failure. It’s time more people speak up in the Labour Party to end this destructive mantra>
and press for structured, respectful but full and frank discussion which hears all members voices and finds a just resolution that seeks to advance both groups lives without infringing the autonomous rights of either. >
The arrogance of dictating to women, to detransitioners, to intersex people, to same-sex attracted people, to trans people who support sex based rights as well as trans rights..... & demanding our silence & our cancellation is shocking and will never be accepted #IamPragnaPatel
