Scottish Greens sever ties with Green Party of England and Wales over transphobia
The Scottish Greens have suspended ties with the Green Party of England and Wales over concerns about transphobia. (Rainbow Greens/Scottish Greens/Twitter)
The Scottish Greens have temporarily cut ties with the Green Party of England and Wales over growing concerns of transphobia in the party.
A motion to suspend formal association between the groups was submitted at the Scottish Greens conference in Dundee.
It follows Scottish Green members claiming office-bearers of the Green Party of England and Wales had engaged in “transphobic rhetoric and conduct”. Members also said the independence of the Scottish Greens has been ignored.
Yesterday (16 October), the motion was passed following a vote by party members, with the suspension taking immediate effect, STV News reported.
The suspension will remain in place until issues of transphobia and respect for the Scottish Greens and its independence are resolved, it says.
Rainbow Greens group, which represents LGBTQ+ members of the Scottish Greens, took to Twitter following the approval of the motion to announce that trans people “deserve a Green party where they feel safe and their interests are promoted”.
Trans people in Scotland, England, Wales & beyond deserve a Green party where they feel safe & their interests are promoted
One day, hopefully in the near future, we'll welcome @TheGreenParty back with open arms but this will only happen if they rise to this challenge#sgpconf pic.twitter.com/I9nnnPjmwz
— Rainbow Greens (@rainbowgreens) October 16, 2022
Prominent Green Party member Shahrar Ali has aligned himself with LGB Alliance, engaged in online attacks against trans youth charity Mermaids and its staff, and celebrated prominent so-called “gender critical” individuals such as Graham Linehan – who is permanently banned from Twitter for “hateful conduct” after a relentless campaign against trans people and their allies.
He has been accused of being transphobic.
‘We must not tolerate transphobia’
LGBTIQA+ Greens wrote on Twitter it is “saddened” by the motion to suspend ties, but added that it “completely understands why”.
The thread added that the group hope to “continue to fight transphobia” and “fix” the party to “reaffirm” with the green values that its members “share with Scottish Greens”.
“This decision must be listened to by all in our party- we must not tolerate transphobia in our institutions, among party candidates for election, or in our wider membership.
“Our party next door has made it very clear: transphobia is not and will never be a global green value.”
We are saddened by this decision. But we completely understand why.
We will continue to work with the party leadership, other liberation and special interest groups, and other allies to resolve the issues that led to this. We will continue to fight transphobia. We will win. 1/3 https://t.co/gyjEOsQYmS— LGBTIQA+ Greens (@LGBTIQAGreens) October 16, 2022
Recently long-time Labour Party donor and campaigner, Eddie Izzard, launched her campaign to become Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Sheffield Central.
If successful, Izzard would become the first openly trans person to be elected to parliament, following Jamie Wallis becoming Britain’s first openly trans MP. Wallis bravely came out in March, just over two years since he was elected as the Conservative MP for Bridgend in December 2019.
PinkNews has contacted the Scottish Greens and the Green Party of England and Wales for comment.
