The Telegraph- Stonewall ‘threatened’ to silence gender critical barrister by having her sacked, says judge

Stonewall ‘threatened’ to silence gender critical barrister by having her sacked, says judge

Allison Bailey is currently suing the embattled charity, claiming it collaborated with her chambers to put her under investigation

By Ewan Somerville and Gabriella Swerling

Stonewall “threatened” to silence a gender-critical barrister they deemed “transphobic” by having her sacked, court documents have revealed.

Allison Bailey, a lesbian criminal barrister who helped to set up the LGB Alliance, is currently suing the embattled charity, claiming it collaborated with her chambers to put her under investigation.

Ms Bailey, who set up a crowdfunder to cover her legal bills, lodged a claim at the Employment Tribunal against Stonewall and Garden Court Chambers last year alleging that she was silenced “because both my chambers and Stonewall treat people such as me, who hold gender critical beliefs, as being bigoted and unworthy of respect”.

The specific details regarding the allegations of attempts to silence Ms Bailey have not previously been reported. However, The Telegraph has seen court documents and emails which reveal the extent of the Stonewall’s “threat” against the allegedly “transphobic” barrister for the first time.

In a hearing in February at the London Central Employment Tribunal, Judge Stout refers to a “threat” from Stonewall to “remove” the barrister from Garden Court Chambers - which is a fee-paying member of the charity’s embattled Diversity Champions Scheme.

Stonewall’s legal bid to strike out claim rejected

Rejecting the charity’s legal bid to strike out the barrister’s claim, Judge Stout said: “[It] plainly seeks to put pressure on Chambers to take action against the Claimant, indeed to the extent of urging Chambers to remove the Claimant from Chambers, and accompanies that with a threat about the ongoing relationship between Chambers and Stonewall itself if Chambers does not take action.”

Separately, Ms Bailey released a leaked email from Stonewall’s Head of Trans Inclusion to her Heads of Chambers. The email accuses the barrister of: “targeting a woman who works for us (our trans empowerment manager) and calling her a man”, “calling our work on LGBT equality ‘gender extremism’” and “accusing Stonewall of ‘appalling levels of intimidation, fear and coercion’”.

The email continues: “These actions and their link to Garden Court Chambers, threatens the positive relationship yourselves have built with the trans community through holding events, round tables and meetings for trans people on trans equality and rights.[...]

“However, 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 members of 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.”

The email also contained a list of tweets that Ms Bailey had “liked” and “retweeted” questioning whether male-born people identifying as women are the same as biological women.

This is a view which the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) confirmed in April is a belief that is protected by law, and which sparked outrage among trans rights activists and campaigners.

The latest twist in the legal battle comes as Stonewall comes under mounting scrutiny.

The UK’s equalities minister is urging all government departments to withdraw from the Stonewall diversity scheme - to which around 250 public bodies are signed up - amid concerns it may not provide value for money.

Liz Truss, the women and equalities Minister, told officials she does not think that Whitehall departments should be signed up to the programme, which costs around £2,500 a year and gives employers access to resources to make them more “inclusive”.

Membership of the Stonewall Diversity Champions scheme gives companies training about pronouns and gender-neutral spaces and helps to qualify for the LGBTQ charity’s workplace equality index.

The EHRC, the House of Commons, Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Acas, the employment dispute service, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government opted out of the scheme as early as 2019.

It has now emerged that Channel 4 has become the latest public body to cancel its membership of the scheme.

A Stonewall spokesperson said: “We strongly refute any suggestion that we instructed Garden Court Chambers to investigate or take action against Allison Bailey, and believe these allegations are baseless”.

A spokesperson for Garden Court Chambers added: “We will not be commenting on an ongoing case other than to say that we refute the claims made against us and will continue to strongly contest them.