The Telegraph- Lib Dems sued over 10-year ban on mother who said ‘trans women aren’t women’

 Lib Dems sued over 10-year ban on mother who said ‘trans women aren’t women’

Former party official condemns 'sinister witch hunt' by activists, which included inquiry into an allegedly ‘transphobic’ T-shirt
A domestic abuse survivor is suing the Liberal Democrats after she was barred from standing as an MP for stating that trans women are not women. 
Natalie Bird, 40, was banned from holding party office for 10 years after a complaint about her wearing a T-shirt titled “Woman: Adult, Human, Female” amid allegations of transphobia.
The mother of two, who escaped an abusive partner, was first investigated in 2018 after activists complained about her “troublesome” opposition to opening women’s refuges to males who feel they are women, without safeguards for rape and domestic violence victims.
A disciplinary hearing found no evidence of transphobia, but she lost multiple roles as party executive in the North West and a judging post in the Ashdown Prize for Radical Thought. 
A second probe was then opened over her wearing the “transphobic” T-shirt to a meeting, forcing her to stand down as an elected parliamentary candidate for Wakefield. 
She was accused of “disseminating transphobic material over a prolonged time” and “barred from holding or seeking to be elected” to public office on behalf of the party for 10 years.
Now she has launched legal action for discrimination under the Equality Act 2010, claiming she was “hounded” by activists pushing the party’s stance that trans women are women, the first challenge of its kind against a party. 
It comes after a judge ruled on Thursday that saying trans women are not real women is a belief that "must be tolerated", as the tax expert Maya Forstater won an employment tribunal appeal after being sacked for “offensive” tweets. 
Ms Bird told The Telegraph: “There has been a witch hunt against me because I've got these viewpoints, it is rather sinister. 
“Within day to day life I’ve got trans friends, and if you've got somebody who wants to be treated as a woman socially, I believe everybody should do that, be polite and give them their preferred name. But that does not automatically mean that you become a woman.”
Her solicitor Elliot Hammer, partner at Branch Austin, said “it could well be a landmark case” on freedom of speech, expected to be heard later this year. 
A Lib Dem spokesman said: “The party is currently carrying out multiple internal investigations involving Natalie Bird. As such, we cannot comment further until the investigations are complete.”
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