When Biology Becomes a Cover for Anti-Trans Bigotry

Earlier this month, a British employment judge ruled that a researcher's anti-trans views did not constitute what's called a protected philosophical belief under the nation's Equality Act, which meant that her employer's decision not to renew her contract over those views did not constitute discrimination. The woman at the center of the case, Maya Forstater, was employed on a contract basis as a tax policy researcher for the Centre for Global Development. In 2018, she began publicly campaigning, mostly on social media, against reforms to the Gender Recognition Act that would allow trans people in the United Kingdom to self-identify their gender. In response to concern from her colleagues, her employer's human resources department warned her that others might find her anti-trans tweets “offensive and exclusionary” and eventually declined to renew her contract. Forstater decided to sue, purporting to seek legal protection for her beliefs.