Liberal Democrats Ordered to Compensate Former Candidate Suspended for ‘Gender Critical’ Beliefs
Natalie Bird expressed feeling targeted after wearing a top with the slogan, ‘Woman: Adult Human Female’ to a party meeting.
The Liberal Democrats have been instructed to pay £14,000 in damages to a former parliamentary candidate who faced discrimination due to her “gender critical” beliefs.
Natalie Bird was suspended shortly after being nominated as the parliamentary candidate for Wakefield in December 2018.
After attending a party meeting wearing a top with the words, “Woman: Adult Human Female,” she was promptly suspended and informed that a disciplinary hearing would be held for breaching the Lib Dem code of conduct.
Bird filed a discrimination lawsuit, and party representatives had already admitted to discriminating against her.
Complaints System ‘Weaponised’
The Central London County Court was informed that Bird had been banned from standing as a parliamentary candidate for ten years.
She mentioned feeling singled out in a discriminatory campaign and claimed that the party’s complaints system was used against her as a weapon.
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Bird was labelled as “an Illiberal TERF”—an abbreviation for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist,” a derogatory term used by radical transgender activists against gender realists.
The court was informed: “Ms Bird maintains the belief that sex and gender are distinct. Her beliefs fall into the category of being gender critical.
“She alleges that as a result, she experienced discrimination by the Liberal Democrats, causing significant emotional harm to her.”
The judge indicated that the compensation amount reflects the fact that the discrimination was not an isolated incident and likely had a significant impact on Ms. Bird.
Following the verdict, a Liberal Democrat spokesperson stated, “This case pertains to events from 2019 under a different complaints system that has since been revised.”
‘Gender Critical’
In recent times, “gender critical” has been used to describe the view that sex is binary and unchanging, and the importance of maintaining separate spaces for men and women.
Several individuals penalized for these viewpoints have found some form of redress.
James Esses was pursuing a Master’s degree in Integrative Psychotherapy at the Metanoia Institute in London in 2021 when he was removed from his course for raising concerns about potential consequences of the government’s proposed ban on conversion therapy.
Metanoia acknowledged that Esses’s beliefs are protected under the 2010 Equality Act and that his expulsion had a significant impact on him both professionally and personally.
James Esses, commentator and co-founder of Thoughtful Therapists, speaking to NTD’s ‘British Thought Leaders’ programme. NTD
In May, a woman won a case against a rape crisis center for constructive dismissal after being a target of a “heresy hunt” for advocating that victims should know the gender of the center’s staff.
PA Media contributed to this report.
