Birmingham resident submits ‘transphobia’ complaint to the city council

A Birmingham resident has lodged an official complaint against a Labour councillor for expressing “transphobic” views online.

LGBT+ Labour, a society which campaigns for LGBT rights within the Labour party, has also condemned what it terms “transphobic motions” passed by several Birmingham Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs).

Coun Martin Brooks (Lab, Harborne) last week apologised for retweeting a controversial American Twitter account ‘Gays Against Groomers’. The US campaign group is made up of gay men and women who are against children transitioning and using medication to transition.

Coun Brooks deleted the tweet and stated: “Earlier this week I unwittingly retweeted a post by a group that I now understand promotes views that I would never support.”

This week a complaint was submitted to Birmingham City Council regarding Coun Brooks’s use of “LGB” in his Twitter bio and other activity on the social media site.

The complainant, who describes themselves as a gay resident of Birmingham, but wanted to remain anonymous, has accused Coun Brooks of “continuously” retweeting “transphobic views”.

On the Birmingham City Council code of conduct complaint form, seen by the LDRS, they added: “His bio which states LGB makes it difficult for trans residents in his ward to approach him as it overtly excludes trans people. This is against the code of conduct which states he must represent all residents regardless of gender.”

The LDRS approached Coun Brooks for comment but received no response. Birmingham Labour told the LDRS: “We are not able to comment on complaints made against councillors.”

Commenting on the complaint, an LGBT+ Labour spokesperson said: “Coming after a spate of transphobic motions at CLPs in Birmingham, this is deeply concerning and the Labour Party should be treating these complaints as seriously as they would any other case of discrimination.

“Representatives of the Labour Party – whether they be councillors or MPs – must respect the party’s progressive policy on trans rights and abide by anti-discrimination laws that provide a legal basis for trans equality in Britain.

“The Equality Act was a major achievement of the last Labour government. While it is a shame that we are having to fight to protect it over a decade on, it is not a fight that we can afford to lose. Trans people in modern Britain experience a torrent of abuse and discrimination on a daily basis.

“From vast health inequalities, to systemic sexual and physical violence, the world trans people inhabit is too often hostile, and attacks from elected politicians and journalists does not make it any better. The result of this is that almost half of trans youth will attempt suicide.

“Until a formal definition of transphobia is adopted by the Labour Party, there is no yardstick by which to identify, tackle, and ultimately eliminate anti-trans hatred within the party.

“Learning from the success of the adoption of the EHRC definition in tackling antisemitism, this is one of LGBT+ Labour’s policy priorities for this year. We are keen to discuss what such a definition could include with members, councillors, and MPs.”