A barrister has raised more than £60,000 to sue LGBT charity Stonewall and her chambers for allegedly trying to ‘silence’ her for her stance on transgender issues.
Allison Bailey has lodged a claim at the Employment Tribunal against Stonewall and Garden Court Chambers, alleging she was victimised ‘because of concerns I raised about Stonewall’s actions.’
Ms Bailey claims she was ‘indirectly discriminated against because both my chambers and Stonewall treat people who hold gender critical beliefs as being bigoted and unworthy of respect.’
The action came after she helped set up the LGB Alliance, a controversial action group which criticises Stonewall’s approach to transgender rights, the Law Gazette reported.
Ms Bailey launched a CrowdJustice campaign to fund legal action, writing on the page: ‘The case that I am bringing is that I have been subjected to victimisation because of the concerns I raised about Stonewall’s actions.
Allison Bailey (pictured) has lodged a claim at the Employment Tribunal against Stonewall and Garden Court Chambers, alleging she was victimised ‘because of concerns I raised about Stonewall’s actions’
‘It alleges that I have been indirectly discriminated against because both my chambers and Stonewall treat people such as me who hold gender critical beliefs as being bigoted and unworthy of respect.
‘Those people are overwhelmingly women. This treatment is therefore indirectly discriminatory against women.
‘I am suing both my chambers and Stonewall because Stonewall caused and induced the treatment to which I was subjected by my chambers.’
Garden Court Chambers found the allegations are ‘groundless and the claim to be without merit’.
CrowdJustice unpublished Ms Bailey’s fundraiser at the weekend after receiving complaints about its content, but later reopened it with a statement from the CEO, Julia Salasky.
She said: ‘We messed up. We allowed Ms Bailey’s CrowdJustice case page to launch before ensuring its content in its entirety met the high standards that our community expects of us. We realise that many of you are disappointed in CrowdJustice for the way we have dealt with this failing.
‘We know that there are thousands of you who want to support Ms Bailey’s legal fight. CrowdJustice does not take a view of her legal action – the courts should decide.
The action came after she helped set up the LGB Alliance, a controversial action group which criticises Stonewall’s approach to transgender rights (stock image)
Ms Bailey has already raised her goal of £60,000 and the fundraiser has been closed for further pledges
CrowdJustice unpublished Ms Bailey’s fundraiser at the weekend after receiving complaints about its content, but later reopened it with a statement from the CEO, Julia Salasky
‘While we address our concerns about the content of the CrowdJustice case page with the case owner and her lawyers, we have replaced the original CrowdJustice page with this statement so that she can continue to accept donations.’
Ms Salasky also disabled the tipping feature on the page, which is how CrowdJustice makes money, and refunded any tips already given.
But despite the suspension, Ms Bailey has already raised her goal of £60,000 and the fundraiser has been closed for further pledges.
The barrister, a self-proclaimed feminist and lesbian, is among a group who believe making it simple for people to self-identify as women is a threat to feminism, Legal Cheek said.
She says ‘if the new trans activism is not brought to heel, women will disappear as a political class.’
LGB Alliance, which rivals Stonewall, has been accused of transphobia. Ms Bailey, however, denies this, claiming ‘I have always been an advocate for transgender rights’.
A Stonewall spokespersons said: ‘We work with a diverse range of organisations through our Diversity Champions programme to give advice on tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic discrimination and how they can be more inclusive of LGBT people.
‘While we aren’t able to comment on individual cases, we know it’s vital businesses take active steps in creating equality for all lesbian, gay, bi and trans people’.
Garden Court Chambers added: ‘We strongly refute any claim that we have acted unlawfully or in any way colluded with Stonewall. We consider these allegations to be groundless and the claim to be without merit’.