Winter Pride event called off after threat of legal action

Martin Shipton

A Winter Pride was called off at the weekend after a campaign body threatened legal action against the organisers if they banned a woman with gender critical beliefs from attending.

Carmarthenshire Winter Pride was due to go ahead in Kidwelly with speeches from politicians and others including Wales Office Minister and Llanelli MP Dame Nia Griffith and former Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price.

But CETMA [Community Engagement, Technology, Media & Arts), which was organising the event, pulled the plug on it after getting an email from the Free Speech Union.

Non-partisan

The mail said: “We are a non-partisan, mass membership public interest body that stands up for the speech rights of its members and campaigns for free speech more widely. This letter concerns the decision of the organisers of the Carmarthen Winter Pride event in Kidwelly to ban one of our members from the event on the basis of their lawfully held beliefs.

“According to our member, on November 25 2023 she and a friend, who are asexual and a lesbian respectively, attempted to enter the Pride event being held in Llandyfaelog. [Our member] is well known locally for her belief that sex is an immutable, biological characteristic because she campaigns for sex-based women’s rights. She expressed a desire to enter the event and in particular was keen to speak to her local MP, Nia Griffith, who was also in attendance.

“[Our member] and her friend were prevented from entering the event by you and your staff, who stated that it was because the event was a ‘safe space’. Your organisation confirmed on Facebook that they were concerned about a possible ‘threat’ to the wellbeing of the staff and as such, [our member’s] expectations are that she will be prevented from attending the event this Saturday December 14 2024.

“We believe that excluding [our member] from the event on the basis of her beliefs may have been discriminatory under the Equality Act 2010.

“The Equality Act provides that any person ‘concerned with the provision of a service to the public’ must not discriminate against a person requiring the service by, among other things, not providing the person with the service (s.29(1)) or by terminating the provision of the service (s.29(2)(b)) on the basis of customers’ protected characteristics, whether their race, sexual orientation, sex, religion or belief (s.10).

“Your event is advertised as being open to the public, and as offering a variety of services, for example providing support to members of the LGBTQIA+ community. It is therefore subject to the s.29 duty.

“[Our member’s] gender-critical beliefs, which are based on the principles that sex is an immutable, biological characteristic and that it is an important determinant of social affairs, are recognised as a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act (Forstater v CGD Europe Ltd [2022] ICR 1).

“It is clear from the explanation given by staff on the door that [our member] and her friend were asked to leave the event on November 25 2023, not due to any inappropriate behaviour on their part, but because staff and volunteers objected to their protected philosophical beliefs, as expressed previously by [our member] online.

“The holding of gender-critical beliefs, furthermore, does not constitute ‘hate’ or any kind of ‘threat’, and to exclude members of the public who hold those beliefs from this year’s event on that basis would be clearly discriminatory. That CETMA has a private hire arrangement with the building’s owners makes no difference to this principle.

“In light of the above, and noting that your advertisement specifically states that you will not tolerate discrimination of any kind, the FSU respectfully requests the following actions on behalf of our members:

1. A written assurance from CETMA that members of the general public, including [our member], will not be excluded from the Pride event taking place on December 14 2024 or from any future events on the basis of their legally held beliefs.

2. If you consider that [our member] and her companion(s) should not be admitted, a detailed explanation as to the basis on which this decision has been made.

3. A commitment from CETMA to provide training to door staff and event volunteers on the Equality Act 2010, with specific emphasis on freedom of speech and belief.

“We trust that you will give this matter your prompt attention. Should our member be subject to any further discriminatory action on the part of your organisation, she will consider all options available to her for redress, including legal action where applicable. The FSU stands ready to support her to the extent we deem necessary.”

‘Equality’

A message posted online by the event organisers said: “Carmarthenshire Winter Pride is an event that we have continuously stated is safe from hate, and is to promote the equality of all members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and not just LGBQIA+ members. However, we were contacted this morning by the Free Speech Union (FSU), threatening legal action against CETMA if we stopped a person with gender critical beliefs from attending Carmarthenshire’s Winter Pride event.

“We understand people have different viewpoints, some of which are protected under the Equality Act, and this we respect. However, by allowing the person to enter, it would mean that we would be going against the wishes of our staff and our volunteers, who don’t feel comfortable with the person in question attending. There are also the performers, speakers and the general public, whose views also matter.

“Therefore, in order to avoid any legal action against CETMA, we have sadly taken the very difficult decision to cancel tomorrow’s event. CERMA does not have the funds to take part in any legal proceedings. Instead we need to use our resources on supporting the community with food parcels, mental health support and other services rather than legal action.

“We understand that this will come as a disappointment to many people, but feel you will accept our decision and understand the reasons for it.”

‘Unlawful’

The local woman at the centre of the row asked not to be named, but told Nation.Cymru: “I posed no threat to anyone, but they obviously preferred to cancel the event rather than let me attend. They made it perfectly clear that they can’t tolerate anyone who holds different views to them. Such behaviour is unlawful. Over the weekend I received a threatening direct message.”

Dr Ben Jones of the Free Speech Union said: “Our member had no intention of disrupting this event, she simply wanted to come along. All the organisers were asked to do was refrain from discriminating against our member, tolerate people with different perspectives, and ensure staff understood the Equality Act.

“Yet the organisers decided it was better to cancel the entire event rather than let one woman with gender critical views attend. This is an example of the discrimination against women and men with gender critical views that continues to be rife.”