Open Letter to the Leadership of the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW)

 We are writing on behalf of the Green Women’s Declaration (GWD) an eight-point statement which calls on GPEW to uphold women’s lawful sex-based rights, as guaranteed by the Equality Act 2010. It has been signed by over 1520 GPEW members, supporters, ex-members and exiled Party members.

We are gravely concerned at the way signatories of the GWD are being treated by the Party, many of whom have now been suspended or expelled. In addition, countless numbers of our signatories have been subject to transphobia smears by other GPEW members, including some in responsible positions. These smears have been designed to defame, bully and harass, leading to suppression of our right to free speech as outlined in the Free Speech Union’s letter of 26/6/24 to the GPEW Executive.

There have been numerous attempts to purge the Party of women advocating for our rights as a sex, including:

• the 2022 G01 Motion to Conference which called for expulsion of women advocating for our sex-based rights

• the increasing use of No Fault Suspensions and Expulsions to sanction those who disagree with gender identity ideology

• the appalling targetting of successive co-chairs of Green Party Women, five of whom have now been expelled.

• frequent boasts by members on internal Green Spaces and public social media that their mission is to rid the Party of “gender critical” members

We believe it is not overstating the case to say that GPEW and its leaders have allowed, and at times encouraged, a debilitating climate of fear to develop, whereby members who wish to speak out about and lobby for our sex-based rights are being intimidated into silence or repeatedly subject to disciplinary sanctions. Indeed our Deputy Leader, Zack Polanski, has stated that we are not welcome in the Party, and one of our Co-Leaders, Carla Denyer, has called the LGB Alliance, the primary campaign group for the rights of lesbians and gay men in the UK, a hate group.

At present the Party appears to prioritise Drag Queen Storytime over the safeguarding of children and young people; the discriminatory and legally-suspect Queerphobia Guidance (attached to the Party’s Framework for Ethics and Conduct) over the protection of all members from discrimination; and the elevation of the priorities of one political faction (advocates of gender identity ideology) over the membership rights and wellbeing of – mostly older, mostly female – stalwart Greens who happen to hold lawful gender critical beliefs.

All in the Party are now aware that the astounding figure of £1 million has been spent on legal fees over the past four years. In the primary case against the Party so far, [Ali vs Reason and Nott, GPEW was explicitly found guilty of discrimination on the grounds of gender critical belief, in a British court of law. Unfortunately it seems determined to repeat this folly in further court cases currently in preparation. In the eyes of many environmentalist and feminist members of the public, GPEW has become a laughing stock. The current trajectory is unsustainable. Either the Party has lost control of its own disciplinary system and practices, or it is in control of an immoral and unlawful purge of long-standing environmental and feminist members. Which is it?

This persecution of women and gender critical members must end. All those who hold the privilege of leadership positions in the Party must now act as one to outlaw this very un-Green culture of intimidation and discrimination.

We hereby respectfully petition GPEW for:

• an immediate amnesty for all members who have been disciplined for supporting or advocating for a (legally protected) gender critical perspective

• an immediate suspension of the disciplinary system, and removal from office of the chairs of GPRC, DC and Appeals, who have presided over the corruption of justice of the current discriminatory, partisan system

• an urgent overhaul of the disciplinary system, with external, unbiased, legal oversight, so that never again can any political faction rule over members’ lives through a disciplinary reign of terror, and so that justice can be seen to be done, with professional oversight, without bias and with regard to the law

• an immediate suspension of use of the Queerphobia Guidance, whilst a formal independent review is conducted as legally advised by Russell-Cooke LLP.

• and, most importantly, an unequivocal joint statement from the CEO, GPEW co-leaders, Chair of the Executive and those in senior leadership positions:

1. that members with gender critical beliefs are and always will be welcome in GPEW

2. that members with gender critical beliefs are and always will be free to express their beliefs

3. that GPEW will, in all its policy and practice, respect the sex-based rights of women, as upheld by UK law

4. that lesbians in GPEW are welcome to advocate for their rights as a community based on same-sex attraction

5. that any attempts by other members, and especially those who hold positions of responsibility in the Party, to undermine the legal rights of women as a sex will not be tolerated

We, the Green Women’s Declaration, urge this course of action in the interests of individual members and of the Party as a whole. We believe the wellbeing of the Party is currently being held to ransom, morally, legally and financially, by one political faction, advocates of gender identity ideology, whose values and political practice, we believe, have been shown to be inconsistent with the philosophical basis of GPEW i.e. a holistic approach to body, mind, environment, nature and justice, and a co-operative, respectful approach to political debate.

Please heed our call before further reputational and financial damage is inflicted on the Party, and further personal trauma is endured by our signatories.

In a spirit of future cooperation,

The Green Women’s Declaration