Labour has become embroiled in a fresh row over trans rights after activists put forward a biological man to be the women’s officer for an LGBT+ group.
The Trans Rights Alliance, a newly formed organisation seeking to change Labour’s approach to gender issues, has put forward a number of candidates for election on July 19.
One of them includes Steph Richards – a transgender woman in possession of a gender recognition certificate – who is standing for women’s officer.
However, a gender critical group within the party, Labour LGB, said the move breaks party rules by ‘putting a man forward to be a women’s officer’.
Sharing the list of candidates, the group posted on X: ‘Many people say that trans ideology is a men’s rights movement.
‘The “Trans Alliance” (seeking to take over the once-great LGBT+ Labour) has set out to prove this.
‘Also breaking party rules by putting a man forward to be Women’s Officer.’
However, Ms Richards has pushed back at claims she does not have a right to stand for the position.
Steph Richards – a transgender woman in possession of a gender recognition certificate – is standing to become women’s officer for The Trans Alliance
Ms Richards has pushed back at claims she does not have a right to stand for the position
She told Labour List: ‘I am legally female, other than in regards to the Equality Act and the Equality Act does not apply to the position within LGBT+ Labour so I am thoroughly within my legal right and my moral right to be able to stand.’
The row is the latest example of how Labour has been torn apart by the trans rights issue following a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court earlier this year.
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of ‘flip-flopping’ on the judgement which determined that the word sex in the Equality Act does not refer to gender identity.
The Labour leader, who now says he accepts the Supreme Court ruling, previously said he believed that trans women were women.
It comes after Labour decided to scrap its women’s conference rather than face legal challenges and protests if it continued to admit transgender women.
Background papers said there was a ‘significant risk of legal challenge to the event as it currently operates’ and warned: ‘There may be protests and heightened security risks to staff and attendees should the event go ahead.’
A Labour Party spokesman said: ‘Labour must ensure all party procedures comply with the Supreme Court’s clear ruling.
‘Labour is clear that everyone in our society deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.’
Sir Keir Starmer is seen during a reception for London Tech Week at No 10 Downing Street
A person waves a transgender flag, with the words ‘Trans Joy Is Powerful’ printed on it, outside parliament on June 25
Meanwhile, proposed women’s officer Ms Richards previously caused controversy after she said trans women’s ‘breastmilk’ was ‘suitable for infant feeding’.
Posting on X, Ms Richards wrote: ‘Sorry…but regarding the ongoing discussion of whether trans women can express milk to satisfy a baby, these two scientific papers suggest they can, albeit there is some doubt as to the quantity of milk that can be produced.
‘The milk produced by trans women has been found to contain high protein levels and other nutrients, making it suitable for infant feeding. While the overall composition may vary slightly, it can still benefit the infant significantly.’
Ms Richards has previously claimed trans people can change their biological sex ‘a little bit’ and boasted about running a ‘safe space’ where men could dress up as women in secret, including as ‘schoolgirls’.
Last year, she faced fierce criticism after being appointed chief executive of Hampshire-based charity, Endometriosis South Coast, in a move women’s rights campaigners branded ‘worrying and insulting’.
The appointment of Ms Richards, who uses the pronouns she and her and has undergone £30,000 in treatment and surgery to transition, was met with anger from women’s rights campaigners.
Despite hitting back at her critics, saying ‘my birth sex doesn’t come into it – my CV does’, Ms Richards later stepped down from the top role at the charity in May, amid claims she had received ‘transphobic abuse’ following her appointment.
Her latest comments about breastfeeding were branded ‘absolute lunacy’ by some online, with one person saying: ‘Women don’t even breastfeed when there’s any doubt about their ability to nourish their babies properly.
‘It’s horrible to think of a parent so indifferent to the well-being of their child that they would skate on such thin ice just to satisfy the fantasies of the parent.’
But speaking to MailOnline, Ms Richards said: ‘My post contained two links to scientific papers, and I tagged in a person I knew was interested in the subject.
‘My skin is far too thick to worry about the reactions from people who propagate a culture war and practice prejudice and discrimination against trans people.’
MailOnline has contacted the Labour Party for comment.
