The Times- CPS appoints trans activist who was critical of women
Senior prosecutors are facing criticism over the recruitment of a transgender activist to a key diversity role despite evidence that she has posted derogatory tweets about women.
Sophie Cook, who has supported the replacement of the word woman with “womxn” and used the acronym “terf” — trans-exclusionary radical feminist — has been appointed the Crown Prosecution Service’s “speak-out champion”, a new role.
The move, praised by Max Hill QC, the director of public prosecutions, has raised concerns over whether Cook will use the role to “embed” trans activism at the heart of the body that prosecutes serious crime in England and Wales.
Cook describes herself as a “writer, speaker, actor, broadcaster and photographer”. On her website, Cook says that she is an “LGBT & mental health campaigner”, a Royal Air Force veteran and “self-harm and suicide survivor”.
She goes on to quip that she is the “13th most influential figure in Brighton, apparently . . . oh, and transgender”.
Cook has claimed to have been the “first transgender woman to work in football’s Premier League as club photographer for AFC Bournemouth” — a role she said she took after she transitioned from Steve to Sophie in 2015.
Cook also highlighted her appearance on Newsnight in 2018, when she supported the replacement of the word “woman” with “womxn” and said: “I do wonder why people are so offended by it . . . actually the word was invented by feminists, they were quite happily using these words a few years ago . . . all of a sudden, they’re taking offence.”
According to a CPS job advertisement, the new four-day-a-week job has a salary of more than £31,000 and is “home-based” but with an expectation that the postholder will travel to offices and attend meetings.
The advert said the speak-out champion would “be responsible for improving confidence amongst our employees in being able to speak openly about their experiences”. The CPS said that the role would be “instrumental in underpinning positive progress in leadership behaviours”.
After being appointed this week, Cook tweeted: “This is an amazing role which gives me the opportunity to make a real difference.”
Hill welcomed Cook in a tweet. However, concerns were raised over historic tweets in which Cook uses the term terf. The acronym is widely regarded as a pejorative description of so-called gender-critical women who believe sex is biological and cannot be changed.
In September, Cook tweeted: “Apart from menstruate and give birth (just to keep the TERFs happy (are they ever happy?) nothing. I may not be able to do everything well, but I could potentially do anything just as long as there isn’t a required grade.”
We Are Fair Cop, a group of gender-critical lawyers, tweeted: “Female gender-critical employees of the @CPSUK require urgent reassurance that their political belief will not leave them vulnerable to unlawful discrimination”.
In a post directed at Hill, Sarah Phillimore, a barrister, asked: “What would happen to a female member of the CPS workforce who objected to [your] new ‘Speak Out Champion’ referring to her in this derogatory way? Would she be heard? Or sacked?”
A CPS spokesman said the organisation was “proud to have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. One of our core values is treating everyone with respect and all our staff must adhere to this.”
He added that the CPS had a “strong record of inclusion. Introducing a new speak-out champion is a positive step.”
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