Two staffers quit Rosie Duffield's team over 'transphobia' row
Image courtesy of: UK Parliament
Two Canterbury Labour Party staff members have quit over allegedly transphobic comments made by Rosie Duffield over Twitter in recent months.
Criticism of the Labour MP have become more vocal since August, when she tweeted: “Am I transphobic for knowing only women have a cervix?."
The LGBTQ+ news website PinkNews reported that two female staffers from Rosie Duffield’s team quit in the last couple of months, calling Duffield’s comments “overtly transphobic” and “detrimental to the welfare of the trans community”.
In response to Pink News, who published this story with the help of LGBT Labour, Rosie Duffield said: “Yet more absolute rubbish written about me by LGBT Labour and Pink News as part of their daily/weekly onslaught.”
She further went on to reveal the identity of one her staffers on Twitter and give identifying details about the other.
Both spoke to Pink News on the condition of anonymity.
In the article published by the LGTBQ news website, one staffer said: “It is tedious and unedifying to watch you claim that you are being bullied or victimised by trans Labour members, young activists, and even the co-chair of LGBT Labour.
“I think you will ultimately find the adulation of people with JK Rowling hashtags in their bios proves hollow succour.”
The Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Angela Rayner, also spoke out about Duffield, suggesting she ought to “reflect” on her comments.
Duffield’s behaviour has not been subject to an investigation by the party, despite the chair of LGBT Labour condemning her.
Duffield was previously a Labour Party Whip, before resigning from the frontbench in May after being found to have broken lockdown three times to meet a lover.
Earlier this month, Duffield liked a tweet from anti-trans campaigner Maya Forstater that branded the Law Society’s guidance on transition in professional settings as “celebrating cross dressers in the office”.
She also appeared in an interview with The Times, in which she called the criticism “base, pure misogyny” and complained of being silenced by her detractors.
In response to Duffield’s comments, both the General Secretary of Canterbury Labour and the Canterbury Youth Labour Chair resigned their positions.
