A “gender-critical” activist who demanded a public apology and damages after being refused entry to a National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) meeting two years ago has failed in a discrimination claim.
Sandra Adams, a member of a pressure group called The Countess, which opposes a policy of inclusivity adopted by the NWCI towards transgender women, had accused the organisation of discriminating against her on religious grounds in breach of the Equal Status Act 2000 by refusing her entry to the June 9th 2022 event at a Dublin hotel.
Her complaint was heard behind closed doors at the WRC last December, following applications for a hearing in private from both sides.
The NWCI’s position was that its risk assessment had to be “escalated considerably” just hours before the event, when organisers learned that a press release had been issued by the pressure group at 11.26pm the night before setting out plans to “stage an action” at the event.
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There were concerns about the risk of disruption to the event and the potential for “harm” to other speakers and attendees, in particular a transgender board member who was “named” and “targeted” in the press release, the NWCI submitted.
One NWCI witness gave evidence that one protester “ran into the conference room and refused to leave” before being escorted out by the hotel’s assistant manager.
The witness’s evidence was that once that protester was out, she saw shouting a woman shouting at the NWCI employee in charge of controlling entry to the room: “You were going to hit me, you were going to hit me.”
Her colleague was standing back with her hands in her pockets, the witness said.
The hotel manager, who was “rightly focused on de-escalating the matter”, told the woman: “She has her hands in her pockets, she is not going to hit you,” the witness added.
The protesters eventually went away when the hotel manager offered them complimentary tea and coffee elsewhere in the building, the WRC was told.
Another NWCI witness who gave evidence said that Ms Adams “would have been admitted, no question” if not for the press release.
The witness said that identifying the transgender board member by name in the press release, in particular, was “quite a threatening thing to do” on The Countess’s part.
Ms Adams gave evidence that she had made her “gender critical” views known at various events and had a letter published in The Irish Times stating her views. She said she had resigned her NWCI membership in 2021 because of its stance in the area.
Ms Adams gave evidence that she was aware of the press release and met other activists in advance of the event knowing there would be a protest.
She was “taken aback” to be told by an NWCI employee at the registration desk she was being refused entry because her attendance “would make the event unsafe”, she told the tribunal.
Ms Adams did not agree that the board member named in the press release was being “targeted” in the communiqué.
However, she argued the board member “represents the collapsing of the gender category”.
The complainant also accepted it was “reasonable” for the NWCI to have concern for the board member and to put protective measures in place, the tribunal noted.
The religious grounds Ms Adams cited were her “lack of belief that people can change sex”, as she accused the NWCI of taking a “religious” position on the rights of transgender people and that she was therefore entitled to be protected from discrimination under the equality legislation.
She also claimed the Irish word “creideamh” used in the equality legislation had a broader meaning than the English word “religion”.
Sinead Lucey of the Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC), appearing for the NWCI, countered that Ms Adams had failed to make out “any coherent claim of religious belief discrimination”.
In her decision, adjudicating officer Elizabeth Spelman accepted that the NWCI “had to act quickly to deal with a perceived and substantial risk of criminal or disorderly conduct or behaviour” and that it faced a “potentially explosive situation” based on the information to hand.
The event organisers had a duty to protect all those present and believed there was a “substantial risk” posed by members of The Countess and “persons who aligned themselves with its views”, refusing entry to “mitigate that risk”, Ms Spelman wrote.
“In conclusion, I find that the complainant was refused entry ‘on grounds other than discriminatory grounds’,” she wrote. “There was no discrimination in any form as alleged,” she concluded.
Ms Adams is the second activist from the group to lose a discrimination complaint over the events of June 9th 2022, her fellow Countess activist Sarah Holmes having also referred a claim on similar grounds.
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