The Green Party has suspended its health spokesperson, Pallavi Devulapalli, for calling reports of rising LGBTQ+ hate crimes “mischievous”.
At a general election hustings in June, Ms Devulapalli said she had “yet to meet anyone” who denied a person’s right to “dress” and “be addressed as they please”.
Despite government data showing an 11% increase in reported hate crimes against trans people in the year 2022-23, Ms Devulapalli told the BBC “there is no trans-hate in society in general”.
The party has not given any explanation with a spokesperson saying it “does not comment on individual disciplinary cases”. But party documents show Ms Devulapalli was placed on an emergency suspension pending a code of conduct investigation.
Speaking at a hustings event during the campaign, she was asked to respond to reports on rising LGBTQ+ hate crime, as well as her opinion on single-sex spaces and where the Green Party stood on that issue.
She told the meeting: “I’ve yet to meet anyone that actually says somebody should not have the right to be addressed as they please, and to dress as they please.
“I really think there is something mischievous in the air – to make those out to be an issue.”
She went on to say: “The confusion arises when people start conflating sex with gender.”
“Biology is a real thing – it is not a belief” she said, calling for the government to adopt controversial Cass Review recommendations.
Government data shows 4,732 hate crimes against trans people were recorded in 2022-23, up from 4,262 the previous year. Hate crimes against gay, lesbian and bisexual people have fallen 6% over the same period to 25,639.
Ms Devulapalli claimed her comments reflected her thoughts that hate crime against LGBTQ+ people was “being politicised” and “most people weren’t aware of the issue”.
She said she condemned anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes, and claimed her suspension was part of a broader Green Party effort to “silence” dissent.
