Members of Hackney Labour have been instructed to stop campaigning for Laura Pascal, Labour candidate in an upcoming London by-election, following allegations of transphobia.
Ms Pascal, who is standing in the closely contested Cazenove ward by-election due take place on Thursday, January 18, has been suspended by Labour and is under investigation after multiple complaints were received about posts made by Ms Pascal on X, formerly Twitter, that “trans women are not female. By definition they are male.”
A pinned post on her account also states: “My embodied reality as a member of the oppressed sex class is experienced in a world where biology has a significant impact.
“You can believe what you want but I believe that biological sex is a real thing and neither law or some kind of new scientific consensus [will] change that.”
It is understood that another complaint relates to alleged racism after Ms Pascal appeared to “like” a post which suggested a trans woman wearing “womanface” was sexist and comparable to blackface makeup.
But one Labour source branded the suspension “ridiculous”, adding “Laura is a feminist and certainly not a racist”.
In a statement, the Labour Women’s Declaration said: “Laura supports the party’s official positions on the defence of single-sex spaces for women.
“As with many female candidates of all parties, there has been much online criticism of her, in her case for wearing a scarf with suffragette colours, and for speaking out in support of Labour’s positions for example, that sex and gender are different and that sex matters.
“We call on Labour’s Governance and Legal Unit, London Region and the National Executive Committee to instigate the swiftest possible hearing of this complaint, i.e. in the next 48 hours, so that Laura’s administrative suspension can be lifted and Hackney Labour can return to campaigning for a Labour victory.
“This is achievable and is the only honourable course of action.”
