Statement on the gender critical movement and the far right

Since the horrific murders in Southport on 29 July, the UK has seen an alarming outbreak of far-right violence, with organised gangs targeting mosques and setting fire to asylum hostels. It is clear this violence has been whipped up on social media, both by ordinary sympathisers and by a number of powerful players with their own political agendas. It is a populist caricature to claim this violence represents the authentic voice of the working classes and that anyone who criticises the violence is a member of the middle-class elite. Many working-class people have come together to oppose the presence of far-right men attacking their communities and to clean up the subsequent damage. It is insulting to the most economically disadvantaged people in our country to equate them with the perpetrators of this violence. 

We, the undersigned, are deeply disturbed that populist messages particularly targeting Muslims have gained traction among significant numbers of social media accounts associated with the gender critical movement, and that one major account in particular has actively fanned the flames of racist violence with increasingly inflammatory video messages.

As members of a broad-based movement that has coalesced over the past few years around concerns about the destructive impact of gender identity theory, we recognise that we come from a variety of backgrounds and have differing views on other political questions. We welcome this diversity of thought. Certain views, however, cross a clear line, and we are not prepared to work or share a banner with supporters of the far right. By that, we do not mean ‘anyone who criticises the left’ or conservatives in general. We mean anyone who justifies or incites the violent scapegoating of immigrants and minoritised communities, including the violent and criminal anti-Muslim leader who calls himself Tommy Robinson and those who support or defend him.

We also mean those who have jumped on the previous misuse of the ‘far-right’ label by over-zealous sections of the liberal left to now question, minimise or even deny altogether the existence of the far right and the grave and very real threat it poses to the safety and well-being of communities across the UK.

We understand that the failure of the political parties of the centre and left to defend women’s rights and oppose the unnecessary medicalisation of gender-confused young people has allowed this issue to become the preserve of the right. Many have long argued that this abnegation of duty has been short-sighted and dangerous, because it presented the populist right with an open goal they have fully exploited. However, we do not for a moment believe that Robinson and his followers are genuine supporters of women’s rights or concerned for the welfare of children who would otherwise turn out to be lesbian or gay. Even if they were, their scapegoating of other vulnerable communities is completely politically unacceptable and being seen to support or defend it is strategically extremely ill-advised. 

Many of us did not anticipate that this would ever need saying, or that the gender critical movement would ever face a serious incursion from the far right. But the world changes rapidly and this is the position we are now in. We are not prepared to accept the hard work done by so many being co-opted and endangered by people inciting and defending race riots. Not only will it make it much harder for us to get the hearing we desperately need from the new government, but we are ethically compelled to have no truck with any form of racism.

If you would like to sign this statement, email: gcantifarright@gmail.com

(Your email address will not be retained, used for other purposes or passed on to third parties)

Signatories

Simon Edge
Darren Johnson
Cathy Devine, freelance academic
Jeni Harvey
Baroness (Sarah) Ludford
Joolz Denby
Professor Jo Phoenix
Dr Rachel Broady
Clive Simpson
Umut Özkırımlı, senior research fellow, Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals
Helen Watts
Karen Ingala Smith
Lucy Masoud
Rachel Rooney
Francis Wheen
Dr Shonagh Dillon
Victoria Smith
Michael Wayne
Dr Michael Foran
Alice Bondi
Judith Green, co-founder and Director, Woman’s Place UK
Rahila Gupta
Sian Sullivan
Julie Bindel
James Bloodworth
Jon Pike
Joanna Cherry KC
Kate Hix
Peter Daly
Jane Clare Jones
Maryam Aldossari
Ali Ceesay
David Lewis
Charlotte McCandlish
Lachlan Stuart
Jon Heath (Levins Law)
Jane Harris
Deirdre O’Neill
Iain Brassington
Bev Jackson
Johann Lamont
Dee Sheehan
Neale Hanvey
Mary Leng
Ceri Williams, Labour Women’s Declaration
Jane Ayres, Labour Women’s Declaration
Emma Burnell, journalist and theatre maker
Dr Louise Irvine, General Practitioner
Jane Roffe, Translator/copy editor
Diane Jones, Labour Women’s Declaration
Anne Dean, Senior NHS Nurse (retired) and Trade Unionist
Marina Strinkovsky
Cathryn Wild
Jayne Egerton
Selma Taha
Sarah Crofts
Fodo Higginson
Lisa-Marie Taylor, FiLiA
Sally Jackson, FiLiA
Kruti Walsh, FiLiA
Claire Heuchan, FiLiA
Rebecca Durand
Pragna Patel, co-director of Project Resist
Karen Kruzycka
Bettina Trabant
Clare Crestani
Sibyl Grundberg, Labour Women’s Declaration
Naomi Passman, Labour Women’s Declaration
Dr Viv Pointon, Labour Women’s Declaration
Tina Johnson
Leya Terra
Ann Henderson
Emily Collins
Diane Holyoak
Helen Donaldson
Beatrix Campbell
Ali Cliffe
Laura Wiley Hayes
Freya Vanadiss
Susan McDonnell
Kevin Ovenden, author and activist
John McInally
Joseph Sherlock
Fiona Macdonald
Grace Hawthorn
Emma Jackson
Kim Tolley
Margaret Bluman, Labour Women’s Declaration
Nicky Neighbour, Labour Women’s Declaration
Kate Stewart-Hart, Labour Women’s Declaration
Tom Doran
Heather Cole
Dr Sarah Honeychurch
Niall Barr
Kate McLennan
David Newble
Scott Wortley
Anna Melamed
Susan Ram
Helena Coates
Becky Aizen
Hannah Ryan
Liz Aspden
Martin Cleaver
Clare Davies
Miroslav Imbrisevic
Jillian Nicol
Rose Rickford
Rachel Julia
Daisy Gudmunsen
Nicky Low, Hove CLP
Sue Teddern, Hove CLP
Rev Richard Kirker
Laura McColm
Sophiah Aberamentho
Shabanah Fazal
Gill Parke, Children’s Social Services
Jenny Walsh
K Rudd
Emma Johnson
Trina Wood
Jane Walmsley
Dorothea Annison
Ian McNee
Saladin Rospigliosi
Sophie Watson
Jennifer Milligan
Tim Carter, Media & Communications Advisor
Pepe Jansz
Dr Peter Clive
Victoria Hancock
Esther P
Louisa Jones
Mikaela Henderson
Roger Glanville
Dr Ailsa Holland
Victoria Gugenheim
Lorraine Simpson
William Roach
Rebecca Brueton
Carol Beckett, Labour Women’s Declaration
Sarah Neville
Cllr Laurie Burton
Anthea Baxter
Amanda Charles
Milli Hill
Miriam (Miz) Jakubovic
Jan Baxter
Mark Johnston
Angela C. Wild
Liane Timmermann
David Barnsdale
Louis Harris
Andy Hill
Lesley Ann Sharpe
Kate Alexander
Steve Brunswick
Caroline McMillan
Kristina Harrison
Deborah Evans
Neil Mackie
Esther Baker
Michelle Kerwin
Harriet Oldridge
Victoria Hart
Samantha Rospigliosi
Helen O’ Connor, writer and activist
Mark Gillies
Frankie Rickford
Kieran Devlin
Natalie Bird
Patricia Farrington MBE
Shona Darroch
Andrew Davies
Vicky Drew
Savitri Holmström
Laura McGrath
Amanda Gosling
Maureen Dominey
Miranda Yardley
Joanna Young
Caroline Goode
David Rees
Sinead Connolly, Labour Women’s Declaration signatory.
Karen Oakey
Sarah Maginness
Peter Blackledge
Lena Perkins
Dr. Alan Bean
Rosalind Grozier
Tess Wood
Mark Carley
Karen Pittis
Steve Pittis
Carrie Jarvis
Nathan Williams
Ian Patel
Rose Seabury
Duncan Metcalfe
Juliet Oosthuysen
Richard Reay
Brendan Martin
J Madden
Louisa McAlinden
Bill Gallagher
Maureen Child
Tamara Sears
Mary Barnett
Liz Regan
Gary L. Francione
Stella Kane, Labour Women’s Declaration
Obadiah Mbatang
Emma Johns
Karen Twomey
Sarah McCloughry
Christopher Perkins
Theo Hopkins
Cadenza Smith
Helen Self
Simon Myerson. KC
Euan Johnston
Kym Barlow
Nikki Mulligan
Magi Gibson
Rachel Bevan
Tony Hutson
Olive Sneddon
David Britten
Ursula Doyle
Suzanne Perry
Anna Bright
Joy Roberts
Lucy F
Daniel Baird
Terry Stevens
Alice Mason-Power
Bonnie Jones
Carmel McDowell
Ruth Woodhall
Femke Kuiling
Dr Alyson Staunton
William Barlow
Silvia Albertini
Jennie Dellow
Rachel Bell
Nicola Clark, retired nurse
Jo Redhorse
Dr Liza van Zyl
Karen Fountain
Will Lloyd
Emily MacKay
Inge Kleine
Helen Mary Jones
Mandy Valerio
Juliette Fioretta
Gina Whiteley
Susie Coll
Jonathan Hartley
Cllr Miriam Rice
Maureen O’Hara
Kathy Bird
Patricia Hughes
Suzanne Jerreat
Marianne Madill
Stephen Madill
Rachel Cooper
Sander van de Donk
Anne-Marie Evans
Brandy Johnson Owen
Professor Chetan Bhatt
Dr Kate Newey
Emma Brooker
Sarah Gellner
Anna Jones
Gail Devine
Lynn Anthony
Helen Farrell
Phil Sparkes
Mark Chater
Ulrike Bullerby
Lisa Macpherson
Samantha Brown
Eleri Hedley-Carter
Michael Herbert
Alasdair Dickson
Maureen Child
Camille Loftus
Fintan O’Higgins
Caroline Barnard
Professor Jenny Gamble
Sara Stewart
Naomi Marks
Dawn Brennan
Dr Suzanne Gannon
Tim Arnold
Alison Gray, Labour Women’s Declaration
Miranda Feuchtwang, Labour Women’s Declaration
Jane McNulty
Dr Elisabetta Toreno
Andrea Burford
Jan Tait
Julie Smith
Richard Sanderson
Elizabeth Wood
Sharon Nicholson
Natalie Traynor
Dr Amanda Heath
Jasmina Rühl, feminist, Berlin, Germany
Jennifer Young
Alex Houseman
Margaret Egrot
N Zussman
Louise Smethurst
Jenni Dunnigan
Kay Duffy
Roger McCarthy
Ross Madgwick
Kim G
Rebecca Newman
Laura Horner
Jeff White
Linda McKenzie
John Ball
Allyson Gordon
Claire Valentine
Kathy Ferguson
Tara Kaufmann
Pepe Jansz
Linda Craig
Meg McDonald
Lorraine Pimlott
Karen Wallace
Geraldine Wooley
Kathy Stephen
William Fisher
Fiona English
Marie Lynch
Jane Mactaggart
Norma Walton
Heather Graham
Debra Lambert
Vicky Miller
Belinda Shaw
Hilary Rowell
Anne Harris
Jessica Smith
Marta Garcia de la Vega
Julie Furlong
Monica Bijok Hone
Steve Tasane
Dr Eleri Wilson-Davies
Miriam Yagud
Cathy Wintersgill
Nicholas Webster
Anne Reyersbach
Dave Ward
Lewis Reed
Sally Wright
Laura Clarke
Kerryann Lund
Dr Maxine Robertson
Trude Menrath
Sarah Labyrs, Get the L Out
Kay Green
Andrea Vincent MBE
Nicholas Webster, DSD Activist
Louise Sprenger
Cydney Hippisley-Drew
Diana Perkins
Professor Emerita Bronwyn Winter
Simone Watson
Robert Norman
Andrew Hitchcock
Professor Tina Beattie
Lynne Keys
Chris Bain
Sue Leigh
Anne Reidy
Talaith Gladvert
Liz Bonner
Sara Lloyd
Dennis Lawson
Tobias Olds
Dr Sonya Andermahr
Geraldine Murray
Angela Stewart-Park
Laura Jones, Scottish Tenants Organisation
Gearóid Ó Loingsigh, author and activist
Val Carpenter
Mark Dawes
Mandy Vere
Jane Booty
Libby Bliss
Kelli Hackler
Sally West
Roberta Stevenson
Marie Hume
Liz Baker
Elizabeth Graham, USA
Ruth Serwotka
Viv Boardman
Alex W
Skylar Baker-Jordan, USA
David Grove
Richard Scorer, lawyer
Denise Hemphill
Verena Bosshard, Germany
Bea Jaspert
Esmée Streachailt, USA
Jessica Guttman
Diana Ward
Hugo Sugg
Joanna Bornat
Kathleen Cochrane
Cllr Katherine Dunne
Baroness (Dorothy)Thornhill MBE
Clare Page
Campbell McGregor
Gita Sahgal
Nasim Bobat
Dawn Goulsbra
Mary Mason
Cátia Freitas, survivor and activist
Richard Wise
Rudy AKA The Neon Requiem
Professor Murray Lark
Jenny Whyte, New Zealand
Jack Rojas Powell
Sue Peters
Debra Halliday
Iota Aurigae
Frances Shipsey
Jo O’Shea
Rebecca Liebman
Deborah Rushton
Alison Rose
Richard Wise