My name is Maya Forstater. I lost my job for speaking up about women’s rights and gender self-ID.

I am crowdfunding to pay for legal representation to take this case to employment tribunal, to show that no one should be discriminated against for having gender critical views, and talking about them.

If we can establish that gender critical beliefs are protected under the Equality Act 2010, this would help protect others who are afraid of losing their jobs because of the beliefs they hold, and also those facing belief discrimination outside the employment field.

Please donate to support this very important legal challenge, and please share with others who may wish to support me.

Who am I

I am a researcher on business and international development. I worked at the think tank The Center for Global Development (CGD) in London.

I am also a mother and a feminist, and I think that sexist stereotypes about women and girls, and about men and boys are damaging for children and adults. In 2012 I was one of the co-founders of the campaign “Let Toys Be Toys” to push retailers to stop using sexist stereotypes in marketing toys.

My story

Last summer, the UK government launched a public consultation on reforming the Gender Recognition Act 2004 towards 'self ID'. Like most people I agree that transgender people should not face discrimination and harassment as they live their lives. But I am concerned about the impact of self ID on women and girls, and in particular on single sex spaces and services such as women’s refuges, hostels, prisons, changing rooms and hospital wards, as well as women’s sports.

I am concerned that governments around the world are rushing through laws and policies which say that people with male bodies can become women simply by identifying as women. This is happening without adequate consultation or consideration for the impact on women’s privacy, safety and inclusion.

I started to tweet about the issue and had polite discussions with people about the definition of ‘woman’. I wrote an article aimed at people working in international development, and shared drafts with my colleagues.

I never thought I would lose my job over this. But I did.

I had planned to work at CGD for the next two years on a project I had helped to develop and raise funds for. Instead, my tweets were investigated and I was told my appointment would not be renewed. This is fundamentally unfair, and it is in the public interest for this decision to be challenged so that people holding these beliefs are protected from discrimination.

The case

I am taking CGD to the Employment Tribunal for discrimination on the grounds of belief, to try to establish that I should not have lost my job simply for expressing my beliefs about sex and gender on my personal Twitter account.

This will be a ground-breaking test case on whether gender critical beliefs are a protected belief for the purpose of the Equality Act 2010, and if successful will provide protection for all those who share the same beliefs.

I know many people fear consequences at work if they publicly state an opinion on this issue, even in a personal capacity on their own social media, like I did. Others have been banned by social media platforms and or suspended from political parties and membership organisations. This should not happen in a democracy.

If we establish that gender critical beliefs are protected under the Equality Act, this would also help protect other people who are afraid of losing their jobs, and also those facing belief discrimination outside the employment field. Venues that refuse to host public meetings, political parties and other membership organisations, and social media platforms all would need to re-think their policies or they too would face claims for discrimination.

What I am crowdfunding for

I am crowdfunding for expenses to pay for legal representation to take this case to employment tribunal, to show that no one should lose their job, or be discriminated against for speaking about women and women’s rights.