A year ago this month, I asked in the Mail why Keir Starmer wouldn’t speak up for me when I was being bullied and threatened by the trans lobby – and, worse, my own colleagues in the Labour Party – for my stance as a gender critical woman and female Labour MP.
At the time, I was furious. Furious for the many people who had been blanked, sidelined and dismissed or worse, passed over, bullied and deselected because they dared to say – like me – that they thought ‘sex’ was real and that women were at risk if men could ‘identify’ into our spaces, services and sports categories.
As an MP, I was shunned in Westminster, shouted down by male MPs in the chamber, had ‘anonymous’ complainants instigate investigations into me and was abused by both strangers and colleagues.
It was one of the reasons I left the Labour Party months later and became an independent MP. The party I’d loved and campaigned for since my teens had turned into something I didn’t recognise.
But last week, the highest court in the land confirmed what we had always known – that ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010, refers to ‘biological sex’, not ‘legal sex’ and that trans women are still biological men.
Whether they have taken hormones, had their penises inverted, have a certificate or passports or have even changed their birth certificates to say ‘Female’ – they can still lawfully be excluded from certain situations such as female-only changing rooms, female shelters and prison wings.
Although the Supreme Court judges warned that it was ‘not a triumph’ for either side, many feminists felt vindicated. As I listened to the news at home, my assistant – who was actually at the Supreme Court – messaged me to say: ‘We won!’ and my first reaction was relief. I tweeted: ‘Phew’.
But after the initial jubilation, a sense of dread hit me.
A year ago this month, Rosie Duffield asked in the Mail why Keir Starmer wouldn’t speak up for her when she was being bullied and threatened by the trans lobby
Sir Keir Starmer conceded in a dramatic U-turn this week: ‘I welcome the decision of the Supreme Court, which has given us clarity, much-needed clarity’
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for Starmer to ‘show courage and do the right thing’ and apologise to Duffield
Women in this fight have learned to expect a violent, aggressive backlash to any win – and the trans activists didn’t disappoint.
Across the UK, several trans rights protests took place – some organised and supported by trade unions. I felt sickened by the sight of placards like: ‘The only good Terf is a dead Terf’ and speakers saying how much they would like to harm prominent campaigners.
But did I hear from any senior former Labour colleagues? Of course those backbench colleagues that I am still on friendly terms with have been in touch – secretly – to wish me well but most would still never dare to say anything publicly.
Do I expect to hear anything from those who hounded and vilified me or even who stayed silent and didn’t support me? The answer is no. In the Commons yesterday, Kemi Badenoch called for the Minister for Equalities Bridget Phillipson and Keir Starmer to show ‘courage and do the right thing’ and apologise to me. I doubt they ever will.
Because even now, seven days after the judgment and when Labour politicians have been dragged in front of the microphones to say – finally – that this legal clarification does indeed matter, I don’t believe anything at all in the culture of the party has really changed.
Keir Starmer conceded in a momentous U-turn: ‘I welcome the decision of the Supreme Court, which has given us clarity, much-needed clarity‘, as if we are supposed now to be grateful that a judge – an authority that speaks Sir Keir’s language – has told us all what we know already: that men can’t be women.
It’s a shame he didn’t work this out in 2020. Life could have been so different for so many women – women who have been telling Labour for years that ‘sex’ means ‘biological sex’ but who have been hounded out of the party as a result.
Thousands of transgender activists descended upon central London last weekend to protest the Supreme Court ruling
One placard during the protest read: ‘No feminism without trans women’
I don’t envisage they’ll now be invited back. Because misogyny runs deep within the party and there certainly won’t be any change within it while the current ‘lads’ are still in place.
These are the (mostly) London-based young men who initiated investigations into me, leaked stories about me, excluded me from meetings and made life very difficult for me in Westminster.
They dominate the NEC, Labour Students and the LGBT groups and – in my opinion – actively work against women.
Yet these are the very same men who choose candidates for local and national seats and if there’s even a whiff of you being gender critical, you have no chance.
Of course, they’re not anti-every woman. Women such as Labour MP Nadia Whittome – who fall over themselves to accept men into women’s spaces – are lauded.
Another reason I know the culture hasn’t shifted is that we are still not hearing a peep from the female MPs who I know share my views. I saw one on the television the other day being questioned about it and she was absolutely abysmal – no doubt terrified of receiving the same punishment as me.
Today, a full week on from the ruling, I feel that this gender battle is anything but over.
