Open letter: we are appalled at the attacks on Kiri Tunks

We have been appalled at the attacks on Kiri Tunks following an article she wrote calling for discussion on the implications of proposals to change gender recognition legislation.

Kiri has been subjected to abuse and attacks on social media and a petition has even been launched calling for her removal as Vice President of her union, the National Union of Teachers.

We believe that this attempt to silence women’s voices does a disservice to us all. All women have a right to debate how any proposed measures may impact on women-only spaces, services such as women’s refuges, and on measures set up to monitor discrimination against women such as the pay gap.

As Kiri pointed out in her article, ‘to deny any group or individual in that group the right to be part of a discussion about their identity is insulting and will result in a failure of the great liberation we are all seeking.’

Sarah Colborne, NUT (personal capacity)
Lucy Masoud, London FBU Treasurer, Fire Brigade Union (PC)
Alex Gordon, former President, RMT (pc)
Philipa Harvey, NUT Ex-President (pc)
Lynne Walsh, NUJ (pc)
Meirian Jump, Archivist & Library Manager, Marx Memorial Library (pc)
Dana Mills, academic & activist
Judith Green, RCM (pc)
Ruth Serwotka, Unite (pc)
Sarah Johnson, ATL Executive (pc)
Vicky Knight, President Elect UCU (pc)
Janice Godrich, President, PCS (pc)
Professor Mary Davis
Charlie Dacke, Unison (pc)
Clare Solomon, Unite (pc)
Ann Field, Unite GPM & IT Sector
Steph Pike, Unite (pc)
Kristina Jayne Harrison, Transwoman & socialist
Emma Wilkes, PCS (pc)
Christina Purcell, UCU (pc)
Professor Marjorie Mayo, Marx Memorial Library
Jonathan White
Philipa Clark, Sylvia Pankhurst Memorial committee
Andrew Murray, Unite (pc)
Carole Regan, Past-President, NUT (pc)
Anita Wright, National Assembly of Women
Dr Louise Raw, Unite member (pc)
Finola Kelly PCS (pc)
John McGhee, retired national officer for equality FBU
Moz Greenshields, TUC Trades Unions Councils JCC (personal capacity)
Bill Greenshields, NUT past president
Liam McQuade, NUT (pc)

Originally published in The Morning Star on Wednesday 16th August 2017.