round2

Round 2, incoming.


Allison Bailey, whose chambers was found to have discriminated against her because of her defence of same sex attraction, has appealed the Employment Tribunal's exoneration of Stonewall.

Bailey, a lesbian barrister, was awarded £22,000 in damages after the tribunal determined that Garden Court Chambers' announcement that it was "investigating concerns about Allison Bailey's comments" and would "take all appropriate action" constituted discrimination.

Bailey angered people in Garden Court, which was a Stonewall Diversity Champion, by tweeting that "Stonewall recently hired Morgan Page, a male bodied person who ran workshops with the sole aim of coaching heterosexual men identifying as lesbians on how they can coerce young lesbians into having sex with them", which Page called "overcoming the cotton ceiling". 

In another tweet she celebrated the launch of LGB Alliance, a gay rights charity founded on the principle of same sex attraction. LGBA sought to cater for LGB people who felt left behind when organisations such as Stonewall pivoted to 'same gender attraction' and began promoting the validity of male lesbians and female gay men.

While not ruling on whether Bailey's views - that sex was an observable reality, that people could not change sex, and that Stonewall's stance on gender theory was driving the erosion of women's rights, access to single sex spaces and lesbian identity - were correct, the tribunal found that they were all protected beliefs under the Equality Act.

However, Bailey lost the element of her claim in which she charged that Stonewall had attempted to induce Garden Court to take action against her. 

Her allegation hinged around an email sent to the set by Kirrin Medcalf, Stonewall's Head of Trans Inclusion, in which he complained that "for Garden Court Chambers to continue associating with a barrister who is actively campaigning for a reduction in trans rights and equality, while also specifically targeting our staff with transphobic abuse on a public platform, puts us in a difficult position with yourselves: the safety of our staff and community will always be Stonewall’s first priority", adding, "I trust you will do what is right and stand in solidarity with trans people".

The tribunal, which was paused when Medcalf revealed that he needed a support dog and his mum with him to testify, concluded that although he was "alive to Stonewall’s soft power" via the organisation's Diversity Champions scheme, his email did not represent a threat to damage Garden Court's brand if it didn't take action against Bailey.

Bailey announced on Tuesday that she was appealing the Employment Tribunal's decision to dismiss her claim against Stonewall, stating, "Stonewall is not off the hook. Far from it". 

A spokesperson for Stonewall said, "The recent decision by the Employment Tribunal found that Stonewall had NOT instructed, caused or induced Garden Court Chambers to discriminate against Allison Bailey. We have not been notified by the Employment Appeal Tribunal of any appeal by Allison Bailey, but should we receive this, we will defend ourselves robustly".

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Comments

Anonymous 23 September 22 09:32

"...male lesbians" and "female gay men" - what the actual f**k. Stonewall must be run by idiots.

Anonymous 23 September 22 09:43

"The tribunal, which was paused when Medcalf revealed that he needed a support dog and his mum with him to testify" 

I'm done...

Paul 23 September 22 09:56

Didn't Stonewall end their email saying something like "I'm sure you'll do the right thing to resolve this problem".

To me this sounds a bit like when a Bond villain says "I'd like Mr Bond to have a little accident".  It doesn't take a genius to work out what they really mean.

Anna' support dog 23 September 22 10:08

Marvelous - stonewall has fallen very far from grace. Glad to see it getting the shoeing it deserves.

Victory in court is largely immaterial, what really matters is that a long, drawn out, public exposure of the madness that has taken hold of the organisation takes place. So well done Alison.

Tom Fun 23 September 22 12:41

turns out her claim that she won wasn't true then?.... the grift continues

She won her claims of discrimination against GCC.  That's "winning".

She didn't win her claims of discrimination against Stonewall.  She's appealing that part.

Which bit don't you understand?

Anon 2 23 September 22 12:58

@anon - She did win against her chambers (as I am sure you are well aware) and was awarded aggravated damages.  She is appealing the judgment as it relates to Stonewall.

Asif 23 September 22 13:36

I’m sorry, was Bailey not claiming only last month that she had won her case. How can she now be appealing it?

Anonymous 23 September 22 14:47

Who's paying for this?

Her practice has taken a dive as per court records so she probably can't afford it herself?

Liza with a Z 23 September 22 15:47

She is being crowd funded I imagine,  there are a lot of LGB people  who feel the way she does about the 'T Q+' brigade that has been tagged on to my identity,  this is not the same struggle Lesbian and Gay people had,  this is completely different  

Jolyon 23 September 22 15:48

"Who's paying for this?"

Progressives suddenly much less keen on this crowdfunded litigation thing now that it's being used for something other than ill-fated judicial reviews designed to prevent a Conservative government from ever being able to implement policy.

Who could have guessed?

Paul 23 September 22 16:22

Who's paying for this?

I think I may have contributed a small amount to the original crowdfunder.  I can't remember.  I sometimes chip in £10 to something I broadly support.  I'd probably chip in to this too if necessary, after all, unlawful prejudice at work is something we should all oppose.  However I think there is now a more structured approach being taken via the 'Bad Law Project' which is funding various cases on behalf of people who have been unlawfully discriminated against.  It's like the Good Law Project but more meaningful and hopefully more successful.  Please have a look and consider contributing.

SecularJurist 23 September 22 21:47

By Stonewall's definition, I am a male-bodied lesbian.

They've gone to nutty town and raided the nutty bar factory.

'Male lesbians and female gay men' does indeed take the biscuit, or nut cutlet.

"I trust you will do what is right" is tantamount to instructing, causing and inducing the conduct alleged by Ms. Bailey. The ET are, indeed ETs; what planet are they from?

'Soft power'? Hardly. They're bullies and practitioners of Doublethink and Thoughtcrime.

If "I trust you will do what is right" is soft power, it adds a new meaning to history, too. It is something that Himmler probably said to Heydrich during the invasion of Poland or when the latter became Reichsprotecktor of Czechoslovakia ,or what Stalin said to Beria at SMERSH. 

There are other ways to protect LGBT rights without making 'T' more equal than the LGB. 

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