United Kingdom
Really, Sir Keir?
An open letter to Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party in the UK.
Labour leader Keir Starmer says that the “way forward” for trans rights in the UK is for “everybody to stop chucking bricks at each other”. Pink News 29.6.2020
Dear Sir Keir, I have a few things I need to say to you about your appearance on Monday’s (29.6.2020) Today programme on BBC Radio 4.
I was relieved when you were elected the new leader of the Labour Party. I wished it had happened a lot sooner so that maybe we could have avoided the self-inflicted tragedy of leaving the European Union. Perhaps we would have had a government that was capable of competently handling the COVID-19 pandemic. I want so much to be on your side right now. We stand in dire need of robust opposition to the incompetent and destructive government of Boris Johnson.
Your party has been tarnished by accusations of antisemitism for too long. Not being Jewish, I don’t know how much credence to give those accusations. It seems there really are some bigots in your party that hate Jews and the Jewish faith. Such people deserve no place in the party or public life. I wish you every success in ejecting them. However, some people silence criticism of Israel’s actions with allegations of antisemitism. This is disingenuous. Nobody would accept claims that calling out Myanmar for its horrific treatment of the Rohingya people makes one anti-Buddhist.
I get it, Sir Keir. You want to lay this matter to rest. And as you said in the interview, to never hear the words “Labour Party” and “antisemitism” in the same sentence ever again. I wouldn’t want to either if I were you.
Now let’s compare and contrast that with your stance on trans rights. According to you, the “way forward” is to sit on the sidelines until all sides have “stopped chucking bricks”. This choice of words hits a raw nerve for those of us trans people that actually have been pelted with rocks and had bricks thrown through our windows. No, I’m not suggesting that the sides in this dispute are throwing actual bricks. But people who listen to constant demonisation of trans people in the media come to feel that they can chuck real bricks at real trans people. This approach is singularly unhelpful because the government is acting now, so we need you to intervene now.
You’re not waiting until people stop chucking bricks over antisemitism. But on this fight, you seem ready to wait silently on the sidelines until you see who’s won then to stand next to them claiming victory. Is the “way forward” to limit your heroic interventions only to settled disputes? In the meantime, I fear that you’re inviting the words ”Labour Party” and “transphobia” to occupy the same sentence. Is this really what you want?
If you want to be taken seriously as a Prime Minister in waiting, leading a government in waiting, then your fence-sitting isn’t good enough. We need a leader who will do what is right, not merely what is expedient. You were a barrister, for heaven’s sake, so look at the evidence: there is no conflict between the rights of trans people to self-identify and the rights and safety of women.
In this era, we need a rational alternative to a mythomaniac government. We need better from you. And in this dispute, we trans people need you to intervene before the government rolls back our rights. Other non-trans people will see what you do here too. If you’re willing to sacrifice the rights of vulnerable minorities, people will take notice.
Here is my political stance on these issues:
- Antisemitism, Islamophobia, transphobia, and misogyny are all completely unacceptable.
- Policy must be based on facts and evidence.
Please don’t stand by while the Tories throw trans people under a bus, Sir Keir. Be better than that.
Sincerely,
Anna Langley
