Rowling salutes ‘brave’ lesbian barrister suing Stonewall
JK ROWLING has praised the “resilience and courage” of a lesbian barrister suing Stonewall before her tribunal begins this week.
The author described Allison Bailey, 52, as “my inspirational friend” ahead of her employment tribunal in which she is suing the gay and transgender rights charity and her employer, Garden Court Chambers.
Ms Bailey alleges that she lost work and income after a row over Stonewall’s Diversity Champions scheme and “trans women are women” philosophy.
She also claims that she was targeted by Stonewall after establishing an alternative group for lesbian, gay and bisexual people, known as the LGB Alliance.
The hearing was meant to begin at the Central London Employment Tribunal yesterday, but it was adjourned until tomorrow. Ms Rowling, who has faced criticism regarding her gender-critical beliefs, tweeted her support for Ms Bailey. She captioned a photo of the barrister marching “for LGB rights” in San Francisco in 1991: “Lesbian Visibility Week starts today in the UK. A good moment to salute the resilience and courage of my inspirational friend. #Istandwithallisonbailey.”
Shireen Shaikh, an employment lawyer at Taylor Wessing, said: “This case is a hugely important challenge because many organisations will have allegiances with Stonewall and/or will be adopting a stance in their diversity agendas on trans rights and, by implication, those with gender-critical views.
“This topic is uncomfortable and some may wish to avoid discussion of it as ‘too sensitive’.
“But there is no getting away from the fact that there is a head-on clash between the concept of sex as binary and immutable, and a belief in gender as something self-identified.”
Ms Bailey claims that Stonewall collaborated with her chambers, because it was a fee-paying member of the charity’s Diversity Champions scheme, to place her under investigation. She is crowdfunding to raise money for the legal fees for her case.
A Stonewall spokesman said: “[We ] deny the allegations and look forward to defending ourselves when this matter is heard by the employment tribunal.”