London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

If Forstater, sacked over transgender comments, loses tribunal appeal,  no one with a job can claim to have free speech

If Forstater, sacked over transgender comments, loses tribunal appeal, no one with a job can claim to have free speech

Forstater’s legal appeal is crucially important because it’s about everyone’s right to speak what we believe is true. If the original verdict is upheld, it means people must self-censor, particularly on sex and gender issues.
“I believe that sex is real and that sex matters. It is important to be able to talk about biological sex and the ways in which men and women are differently affected by political, societal and cultural choices and policies.”

To many people, this is a statement of the obvious. That males and females are biologically distinct and have different life experiences is common sense. But, two years ago, expressing this belief was enough to see Maya Forstater dismissed from her job as a researcher at a global think tank. Her employer accused her of “fear-mongering” and using “offensive and exclusionary language on social media.” This was despite the fact that, as Forstater points out, she is also firmly of the belief that, “the rights of people not to be discriminated against for being transsexual must be respected.”

Incredibly, not only was Forstater dismissed for expressing her beliefs but, in 2019, an employment judge ruled that the company she worked for was right to sack her. The judge declared her opinions to be “absolutist” and “incompatible with human dignity and fundamental rights of others.” He decided that a belief in the existence of two sexes – something many people, myself included, would argue is not a belief at all but a scientific fact – is “not worthy of respect in a democratic society” and therefore “not a philosophical belief protected by the Equality Act.”

This judgement was handed down at a time when a government-commissioned review of the Gender Recognition Act was underway. We were supposed to be engaging in a national conversation about the significance of sex and what it meant for someone to legally transition from one gender to another. In this context, the tribunal judge hearing Forstater’s case effectively took sides and ruled one perspective so unacceptable it could not even be expressed.

Forstater is now back in court to appeal the findings of the 2019 tribunal. The skeleton argument, presented by her legal team, could not be more damning. The implication of the original verdict, her lawyers suggest, is that not only would people be expected to refrain from expressing genuinely held beliefs but, worse still, they could be compelled to express views they actively contest – to say the opposite of what they believe to be true – “on pain of discrimination at work” and out of fear of losing their jobs.

The skeleton argument chillingly states: “The label ‘Orwellian’ is sometimes applied too glibly, but here it is warranted. The Tribunal’s approach is reminiscent of the Ministry of Truth’s Newspeak: words themselves are to have their ‘undesirable meanings purged out of them’ along with the associated ideas, so that ‘a heretical thought… should be literally unthinkable at least so far as thought is dependent upon words.’”

Legal expert Joshua Rozenberg is absolutely correct when he says that, “the tribunal’s conclusion provides state endorsement for employers to force their employees positively to endorse the dogma of gender identity theory.” Forstater’s lawyers go on to point out that the prevalence of ‘cancel culture’ makes it even more important that the law comes down on the side of offering “robust protection” for those who hold and express beliefs that are considered, by some, to be controversial.

If the original verdict is upheld then no one with a job can claim to have free speech. Instead, people must self-censor and, particularly when it comes to discussions of sex and gender, only express views that meet with their employer’s approval. Forstater herself explains the key question raised in this week’s appeal: “Is a belief that biological sex is real, important, immutable and not to be conflated with gender identity so beyond the pale that it is ‘not worthy of respect in a democratic society?”

Despite the enormity of what is at stake, Forstater’s appeal has only been possible because of the financial backing she has received in the form of small donations, averaging just £27, from hundreds of people. It is great to see that she has had such public support. But what’s noticeable, as Forstater points out, is the silence from mainstream feminist organisations, human rights organisations and professional feminists. She tells them: “your silence will not save you” and poses the crucial question: “Will you continue to appease Stonewall in the hope that they don’t come for your job or your book deal, or will you stand up for women’s rights?” Clearly, some are keen to avoid the fate of JK Rowling, who was viciously attacked online for defending Forstater. Others seem to have swallowed wholesale the bizarre mantra that trans women are women.

Forstater recognises that what is at stake in this week’s employment tribunal is far more than her own career. It is about the rights of women everywhere to speak out about and defend hard won sex-based rights. What’s more, Forstater acknowledges she is far from alone in having lost work for expressing her views on sex and gender. She points to the feminist authors dumped by agents, academics who have been no-platformed, and many others who have faced pernicious complaints, trolling and shaming simply for stating their beliefs. As she argues: “The chilling effect on people’s careers of expressing unpopular thoughts is most often not felt through the formal mechanisms of disciplinary processes and P45s, but through social shunning, economic and social doors closed, careers damaged in ways too subtle to bring to court.”

Forstater’s legal appeal is about the right for all of us to speak what we believe to be true, not what we think we must say. For this reason Maya must win. #IStandWithMaya.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×