Labour Campaign for Trans Rights

Last updated

Labour for Trans Rights
AbbreviationLTR
FormationFebruary 2020
Type LGBT, Labour
PurposeTo campaign for trans and non-binary rights within the Labour movement, and oppose trans-exclusionary feminism.
Region served
United Kingdom
Website labourfortransrights.org

Labour for Trans Rights (LTR), previously known as the Labour Campaign for Trans Rights (LCTR), is a British pressure group within the Labour Party, founded in February 2020. [1] [2]

During a leadership election that month, the group issued a 12-point programme which called for the expulsion of Labour members who belong to what they described as hate groups, or which expressed what they said were bigoted, transphobic views. [3] Two of the groups they described as hate groups were Woman's Place UK and the LGB Alliance, which have been described by the LCTR as "trans-exclusionist". [4] This was criticised by Mark Serwotka, General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), [5] and led to the #expelme tag among some Labour members. [6]

The pledge was supported by candidates Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy, but not by Keir Starmer, who later became leader of the party. Starmer endorsed a "less contentious 10-point pledge" from LGBT+ Labour. [4]

In 2022, the group dissolved into what is now known as Labour for Trans Rights. Since then, they have spoken out against senior Labour figures and their support for the Cass review [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonewall (charity)</span> UK-based charity and advocacy group for LGBT rights

Stonewall Equality Limited, trading as Stonewall, is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights charity in the United Kingdom. It is the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Serwotka</span> British trade unionist

Mark Henryk Serwotka is General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the largest trade union representing British civil servants. He was President of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) for 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Walsh (political commentator)</span> American right-wing political activist (born 1986)

Matt Walsh is an American right-wing political activist, author, podcaster, and columnist. He is the host of The Matt Walsh Show podcast and is a columnist for the American conservative website The Daily Wire. He has authored four books and starred in The Daily Wire online documentary film What Is a Woman?.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT+ Labour</span> LGBT+ political group affiliated to the British Labour Party

LGBT+ Labour, the Labour Campaign for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights, is a socialist society related to the Labour Party in the United Kingdom. Originally called the Gay Labour Group, the purpose of this organisation is to campaign within the Labour Party and wider Labour movement to promote the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, and to encourage members of the LGBT community to support the Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wes Streeting</span> British Labour politician

Wesley Streeting is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care since 2021, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ilford North since 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keir Starmer</span> Leader of the Opposition of the United Kingdom since 2020

Sir Keir Rodney Starmer is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015. He was previously Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Powell</span> British politician (born 1974)

Lucy Maria Powell is a British politician serving as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons since 2023. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester Central since 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political views of J. K. Rowling</span>

British author J. K. Rowling, writer of Harry Potter and other Wizarding World works, has garnered attention for her support of the Labour Party under Gordon Brown and her criticism of the party under Jeremy Corbyn, as well as her opposition to the Republican Party under Donald Trump. She opposed Scottish independence in a 2014 referendum and Brexit during the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Long-Bailey</span> British Labour Party politician

Rebecca Roseanne Long-Bailey is a British politician and a solicitor serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Salford and Eccles since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, Long-Bailey served in the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2016 to 2017, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2017 to 2020 and Shadow Secretary of State for Education in 2020.

Momentum is a British left-wing political organisation which has been described as a grassroots movement supportive of the Labour Party; since January 2017, all Momentum members must be members of the party. It was founded in 2015 by Jon Lansman, Adam Klug, Emma Rees and James Schneider after Jeremy Corbyn's successful campaign to become Labour Party leader and it was reported to have between 20,000 and 30,000 members in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosie Duffield</span> British politician

Rosemary Clare Duffield is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Canterbury since 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Munroe Bergdorf</span> British model and activist

Munroe Bergdorf is an English model and activist. She has walked several catwalks for brands including Gypsy Sport at both London and NYC Fashion Weeks. Bergdorf was the first transgender model in the UK for L'Oréal, but was dropped within weeks after a racial row. In February 2018, she was appointed as an LGBT adviser to the Labour Party, but resigned the following month. Bergdorf appeared in the Channel 4 documentary What Makes a Woman, which aired in May 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magdalen Berns</span> British YouTuber and campaigner (1983–2019)

Magdalen Berns was a British YouTuber, boxer, and software developer. Berns, a lesbian radical feminist, produced a series of YouTube vlogs in the late 2010s focusing on topics such as women's rights and gender identity. Berns's vlogs attracted attention from transgender rights activists, some of whom characterized her as being transphobic and a TERF. Berns co-founded the non-profit organisation For Women Scotland, which campaigns against possible changes to the Gender Recognition Act 2004, among other things.

The 2020 Labour Party leadership election was triggered after Jeremy Corbyn announced his intention to resign as the leader of the Labour Party following the party's defeat at the 2019 general election. It was won by Keir Starmer, who received 56.2 per cent of the vote on the first round. It was held alongside the 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election, in which Angela Rayner was elected to succeed Tom Watson as deputy leader.

The LGB Alliance is a British nonprofit advocacy group founded in 2019, in opposition to the policies of LGBT rights charity Stonewall on transgender issues. Its founders are Bev Jackson, Kate Harris, Allison Bailey, Malcolm Clark and Ann Sinnott. The organisation has said that lesbians are facing "extinction" because of the "disproportionate" focus on transgender identities in schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woman's Place UK</span> British advocacy group

Woman's Place UK (WPUK) is a British political advocacy group founded in 2017. The group is opposed to gender self-identification for transgender people in the UK, and has advocated restricting access to women-only spaces on the basis of "sex, not gender".

The 2021 Green Party of England and Wales leadership election was held from August to September 2021 to select a new leader or leaders of the Green Party of England and Wales. It was triggered by Jonathan Bartley's announcement on 5 July 2021 that he would be standing down as party co-leader. Bartley had been co-leader of the party since 2016, initially serving with the party's Member of Parliament (MP) Caroline Lucas. Sian Berry, who had served as co-leader with Bartley since 2018, did not seek re-election with a new co-leader or by herself.

The Women's Declaration International (WDI), formerly the Women's Human Rights Campaign (WHRC), is an international advocacy organisation founded in the United Kingdom. WDI has published a Declaration on Women's Sex-Based Rights, and has developed model legislation to restrict transgender rights that has been used in state legislatures in the United States. The organisation has been described as gender-critical, anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-gender, trans-exclusionary, trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF), and as a hate group, and in several countries the group has been linked to the far right. It has been noted by Southern Poverty Law Center as being part of an "anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience network".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labour Party leadership of Keir Starmer</span> Keir Starmers tenure as Leader of the Labour Party (April 2020 – present)

The Labour Party leadership of Keir Starmer began when Keir Starmer was elected as Leader of the UK Labour Party in April 2020, following the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn after Labour's defeat at the 2019 general election. Starmer's tenure as leader has been marked by his opposition to some of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and various other issues involving the government, including Partygate, the cost of living crisis, and the industrial disputes.

References

  1. Robinson, Torr (11 February 2020). "For Trans Liberation". Tribune. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  2. Duffy, Nick (11 February 2020). "Labour Campaign for Trans Rights launches to challenge transphobic rhetoric within party". PinkNews. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  3. Parker, Jessica (12 February 2020). "Labour leadership: Long-Bailey backs call to expel 'transphobic' members". BBC News. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  4. 1 2 Weaver, Matthew (13 February 2020). "Labour leadership contenders split over trans group pledge card". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  5. Serwotka, Mark (20 February 2020). "The drive to expel feminists from Labour is creating a hostile environment for women". Morning Star. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  6. "Labour transgender campaign angers women's rights groups". Sky News. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  7. "x.com". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 24 May 2024.