Horrifying campaign to purge transgender women from Labour Party shortlists raises thousands

A campaign to eliminate transgender women from all-women Labour Party shortlists has raised more than £8,500 in two days.

The online fundraiser, entitled “Keep All-Women Shortlists Female!”, was started by nine Labour members who say they “want to ensure all-women shortlists stay reserved for females”.

Trans women are, of course, also women, but that is not what this campaign – which has received donations from nearly 500 people so far – thinks.

(GoFundMe)

“We believe that the election of transwomen as women’s officers and their inclusion on all-women shortlists is reducing and undermining female representation in the Labour party,” the group writes.

The UK’s Labour Party uses women-only shortlists in a number of constituencies in a bid to boost the number of female MPs in Parliament.

There are currently zero openly transgender MPs in Parliament, though several ran for election in 2017, and many serve as local councillors.

The transphobic campaign began as Dawn Butler, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, was receiving abuse for backing trans women who stand under the system.

Butler’s comments have led to a barrage of abuse from anti-transgender campaigners on social media, with messages branding her a “rat” and calling for her deselection.

• Nov 29

56 celebrities you didn’t know are gay, bisexual or lesbian