I am taking legal action against Nottingham City Council

Welcome to my crowd funder. I can imagine that you are wondering how many more of these appeals will be coming your way and have possibly already donated to at least one such crowd funder. I am not asking anyone to donate if they struggle in any way financially but would rather those with disposable income and no money worries put their hands in their pockets.

Other ways you can help is by sharing this appeal with those you know could potentially afford to contribute. Any support, whether financial or otherwise, would be gratefully received.

Background to the case:

I am a feminist campaigner, journalist and author. I have been active against all forms of male violence towards women and girls my entire adult life. Nottingham City Council (NCC) de-platformed me from a talk I was invited to give to local women on 25 June 2022 at Apsley Library, which is under threat of closure and is in one of the city's more deprived areas.

I grew up in a working class family in the North East of England, and I know how crucial libraries are to underprivileged communities. My talk was to be on feminist campaigning against male violence, and we hoped it would draw a good crowd to the library.

At 3.40pm on Friday 24 June, as I was on the train from London to Nottingham, the organiser phoned me with the news that the Council had cancelled my appearance. I was prevented from even entering the building.

The reason? That my views on transgender rights are 'at odds' with the Council’s policy. Without speaking to me, or bothering to discover what I actually believe, the Council decided to deny me the right to speak on their premises.

For me, to abandon the talk was unthinkable. Every ticket had sold, which meant there were dozens of women in Nottingham eager to learn how they could get involved in campaigning to end rape and domestic abuse. The event was a sell-out, and there was no way I was going to be intimidated into cancelling it.

We ended up holding the talk in the car park. An enthusiastic crowd gathered – and so did a small but disruptive mob who attempted to drown out the speeches by playing loud music and shouting and jeering.

As I wrapped up my speech, I was shown a statement, posted online for the world to see, from NCC. I have posted it in its entirety as I am certain you will understand why I feel I have to take legal action in response:

 NCC has cancelled a booking to use a space at Aspley Library for a talk by author Julie Bindel today (Saturday 25 June). This is due to the speaker’s views on trans gender rights being at odds with aspects of the council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. Nottingham City Council Deputy Leader Cllr Adele Williams and Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods, Safety & Inclusion Cllr Neghat Khan said:

 “This was a private booking at Aspley Library by the ‘Nottingham Women for Change’ group and all ticket sales and marketing of the event had been undertaken independently with no input from the council.

 “While it was known that the event was going to be from a feminist perspective, no information around the speaker’s views on transgender rights was brought to the Library Service’s attention.

 “Once we became aware of this, we took the decision to cancel the booking. Nottingham is an inclusive city and as a council we support our LGBT community and have committed to supporting trans rights as human rights through Stonewall. We did not want the use of one of our library buildings for this event, taking place during Pride month, to be seen as implicit support for views held by the speaker which fly in the face of our position on transgender rights.”

Nottingham City Council decided to ban me, not because of the subject I was going to be speaking about, but merely because I hold feminist views which are in opposition to gender ideology.

I consider it to be deeply offensive and problematic for public bodies to decide that I am too controversial and even dangerous for women to listen to when I am talking about campaigning to end rape and domestic abuse.

I am a feminist campaigner. It is particularly important that women in deprived communities have the opportunity to come together. Public spaces which enable women to do so are essential. It is nothing short of outrageous that my voice is silenced when there are women requesting to hear it.

Over the past decade and more, feminists have been rebranded as bigots and fascists and accused of discriminating against trans people for merely speaking about the experience of being women. If Nottingham City Council - or any public body - can ban me simply because they do not share my views, they can do that to any of us. This has implications for every single feminist.

I have now decided to take legal action against Nottingham City Council under both the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998.

I am taking this case in order to prevent Nottingham City Council and other local authorities and public bodies from banning feminists who oppose gender ideology from public buildings.

The first stage in my case is to write a legal letter to Nottingham City Council to give them the chance to provide an explanation for banning me from speaking, and to give them the opportunity to put it right.

If they don’t do that, then we will start court proceedings.

I will keep you updated at every step of the way.

My legal team: I am represented by Elizabeth McGlone of didlaw, Karon Monaghan QC, Akua Reindorf and Beth Grossman.

How much I am raising and why? My initial target will allow me to instruct my legal team to draft and send a letter to Nottingham City Council.  

Thank you as ever for your support.