Denial of services and the corporate war on the unwoke

Last year, the FSU played a big part in persuading the government to change the UK’s Payment Services Regulations, making it more difficult for banks and payment processors to close customer accounts for political reasons. But as Toby Young points out in his latest piece for Spiked, you only have to glance at the FSU’s case files to see that ‘de-banking’ is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the withdrawal of services from people who hold lawful but dissenting views. In the past year, we’ve often gone to bat now for people who’ve been kicked out of professional associations for wrongthink.

One recent FSU case involved a man threatened with suspension from British Cycling for objecting to a racially segregated event.

Another ongoing case concerns a Newcastle United fan who has been banned from St James’s Park for two seasons because of gender critical opinions she expressed on social media. We’re currently helping her appeal that decision, but we suspect hundreds – possibly thousands – of football fans have been blacklisted by the Premier League for expressing unfashionable but perfectly lawful views.

The fact is that discriminating against people because of their beliefs – provided they’re deemed “worthy of respect in a democratic society” – is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010. But one of the reasons services are being withdrawn from so many people whose views fall outside the Overton window is because equalities law is being misapplied, often at the behest of activist lobby groups like Stonewall. Perhaps the most egregious example we’ve come across is that of Teresa Steele, a former solicitor who had her life-saving operation cancelled by a private hospital after she complained about a transgender nurse and asked for assurance that only biological women would be involved in her intimate care (Telegraph).

This is not the only recent example of critical care being denied to women with gender critical views.

A private medical hospital in the United States recently refused to treat a woman with breast cancer because of the “disrespectful and hurtful remarks” she made in a private email to her physician. What were the outrageous things she said? She objected to the presence of a trans pride flag in the clinic’s reception area (Reduxx).

In Canada, a woman was evicted from a domestic violence shelter for women after expressing concerns to management about gender identity ideology, following two separate incidents with transgender women in the residence. “The fact is you’re transphobic,” the manager told her during the eviction process, adding: “[T]his is not the right place for you.” (Reduxx).

Closer to home, recent guidance from the NHS Confederation – published in partnership with the LGBT Foundation – warns that patients may be found guilty of direct discrimination or harassment if they refuse care from a transgender medical professional. (Which isn’t true.)

The FSU is currently working with Ms Steele to better understand the scale of this problem in the UK’s healthcare sector.

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