Allison Bailey Explained

Allison Bailey
Birth Name:Allison Elaine Bailey
Birth Place:Cowley, Oxfordshire, England
Alma Mater:University of Manchester
Occupation:Barrister
Known For:LGB Alliance

Allison Elaine Bailey (born 1970) is a retired barrister who specialised in criminal defence law and worked in London, England. Bailey initiated an employment tribunal claim against her legal chambers and Stonewall in 2020. The case has attracted public and media attention, particularly in relation to the Diversity Champions programme.[1] She announced her retirement from the Bar and resignation from her chambers on her website effective 31 March 2023.[2]

Early life and education

Bailey was born and grew up in Cowley, Oxfordshire. Her parents are Jamaican.[3] She achieved a First class degree from the University of Manchester and worked part-time as a housing support worker with women and children survivors of sexual violence. Bailey describes herself as a "a feminist, a lesbian, a lifelong campaigner for racial equality, lesbian, gay, and bisexual rights".[4] She became involved in protest and activism and spent a night in jail for a peaceful protest of the acquittal of the officers involved in the beating of Rodney King.[5] She studied for postgraduate law qualifications and was called to the Bar of England and Wales by Middle Temple in July 2001.

Discrimination action case

In October 2019, Bailey co-founded the LGB Alliance, an advocacy group and registered charity which opposes LGBT registered charity Stonewall's policies on transgender issues;[6] [7] [8] she acclaimed the newly formed group on Twitter and said that "gender extremism is about to meet its match."[9] Her chambers, Garden Court Chambers, announced it would launch an internal investigation after it received complaints alleging transphobia regarding her social media use and her involvement with the LGB Alliance.[7]

In March 2020, she announced that she would be suing Garden Court and Stonewall in a discrimination action.[10] She gave the following explanation of her reasons behind the case:

First and foremost, I hope that my legal action will bring me justice. I also hope that it can stop Stonewall from policing free speech via its Diversity Champions scheme. Stonewall have signed up many companies, public bodies, voluntary sector organisations and government departments to their manifesto and their value system regarding trans rights. What is called Stonewall Law. Without most of the public realising it, a large swathe of British employers have signed up to the Stonewall value system. It has done this by trying to silence and vilify women like me who have genuine concerns about how its approach to trans inclusivity conflicts with the protections, safety and dignity of women, girls, children and LGB people.[11]
The case attracted widespread media coverage, notably in the law press amid debates about freedom of speech and workplace diversity schemes.[12]

Bailey alleged that Stonewall was in breach of the Equality Act 2010. She claimed victimisation and discrimination on the grounds of sex and/or sexual orientation against Garden Court, and that Stonewall instructed, caused or induced that unlawful conduct.[13]

She used the CrowdJustice fundraising platform to raise funds for the case, raising £60,000. CrowdJustice later closed donations to the case, stating that "parts of the case page, unconnected to the facts of the actual legal case, could be considered to promote hate, abuse or harassment towards a minority community, in contravention of our terms."[14] In response, Bailey stated that "I was not prepared to edit out and censor my page in the way CrowdJustice demanded."[15] She was afterwards able to raise £500,000 for the case via crowdfunding.

In December 2021, it was reported that a judge ruled against Stonewall and Garden Court to allow an amendment of the discrimination claim to include arguments based on the ground of philosophical belief, as allowed in the case of Maya Forstater v Centre for Global Development.[16]

The hearing of Bailey's tribunal case began on 25 April 2022, considering a number of claims against Garden Court Chambers and against Stonewall.[17] The tribunal's decision was published in July 2022. In terms of the claims against Garden Court Chambers, the tribunal ruled in favour of her claim that Garden Court Chambers had discriminated against her by tweeting that complaints against her tweets would be investigated. It also ruled in favour of her claims that Garden Court Chambers had discriminated against her and victimised her by concluding in that investigation that two of her tweets had potentially breached the core duties of barristers. One of the tweets was about the concept of a "cotton ceiling" and the other regarded her belief that Stonewall has a dangerous agenda regarding gender self-identification.[18] She was consequentially awarded £22,000 in damages for injury to feelings.[19] The tribunal ruled against her other claims against Garden Court Chambers, ruling that she had not lost income or work opportunities due to the complaints, nor that that Garden Court Chambers had a systemic policy of treating gender-critical beliefs as bigoted. The tribunal ruled against all her claims against Stonewall, ruling that Stonewall did not influence the complaints procedure or the policies of Garden Court Chambers.[20] [21] Bailey appealed against the ruling on the claims against Stonewall. [22] The appeal was heard in 2024. Bailey was unsuccessful.[23]

In July 2023, the employment tribunal ordered Garden Court Chambers to pay £20,000 legal costs to Bailey because of its "unreasonable conduct" during the case.[24]

Media coverage

In their article "The Gender Wars, Academic Freedom and Education", Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan list Bailey, alongside Sonia Appleby,[25] Maya Forstater, and J. K. Rowling, as examples of women who have experienced campaigns of harassment because they speak publicly on sex and gender identity.[26]

Sonia Sodha, leader writer in The Observer, commented "That a gay rights charity stands accused of discriminating against a black lesbian illustrates how wrong it is to assume the rights and interests of all LGBTQ+ people perfectly align. Of course, that has not stopped white men telling Bailey that her concept of womanhood is not only wrong, it makes her a bigot."[27]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rose. Neil. 12 March 2021. Chambers and Stonewall fail to strike out barrister's discrimination claim. 23 October 2021. Legal Futures. en-GB. 23 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211023210953/https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/chambers-and-stonewall-fail-to-strike-out-barristers-discrimination-claim. live.
  2. Web site: A personal update . Bailey . Allison . Allison Bailey . 30 March 2023 . 21 May 2023 . I'm writing to let you know that I have decided to retire from practise as a barrister . 30 March 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230330183024/https://allisonbailey.co.uk/updates/a-personal-update/ . live .
  3. Web site: Allison Bailey Barristers Garden Court Chambers Leading Barristers located in London, UK. 24 March 2021. www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk. 14 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210514153508/https://www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk/barristers/allison-bailey/sao. live.
  4. Web site: Allison Bailey: "I am suing Stonewall to stop them policing free speech". 27 June 2020 . 26 October 2021. 26 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211026200808/https://filia.org.uk/latest-news/2020/6/27/allison-bailey-i-am-suing-stonewall-to-stop-them-policing-free-speech. live.
  5. Web site: Do Right, Fear No One (except possibly Stonewall). 23 October 2021. Legal Feminist. 15 February 2021. en-GB. 23 July 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210723223421/https://legalfeminist.org.uk/2021/02/15/do-right-fear-no-one-except-possibly-stonewall/. live.
  6. News: Hellen. Nicholas. 22 September 2019. 'Anti-women' trans policy may split Stonewall. The Sunday Times. 13 February 2021. 1 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210201130445/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/anti-women-trans-policy-may-split-stonewall-wfv2rp5cx. live.
  7. News: Lawyer supporting anti-trans LGB Alliance to be investigated by law firm. Wakefield. Lily. 26 October 2019. PinkNews. 8 June 2021. 8 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210608142709/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/10/26/lgb-alliance-lawyer-anti-trans-law-firm-gender-critical-womans-place-uk/. live.
  8. News: Lesbian barrister investigated over transgender views. en. 28 October 2019. The Times. 24 March 2021. 0140-0460. 2 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200702153625/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lesbian-barrister-investigated-over-transgender-views-l32b67zgf. live.
  9. News: Hellen. Nicholas. Lesbian barrister: my bosses bowed to transgender 'hate mob'. The Times. en. 28 October 2019. 24 March 2021. 0140-0460. 7 March 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210307165627/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lesbian-barrister-my-bosses-bowed-to-transgender-hate-mob-shm6x09v8. live.
  10. Web site: Gonella. Sophia. 3 July 2020. Allison Bailey v Stonewall. 24 March 2021. The Student Lawyer. en-US. 16 April 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210416193858/https://thestudentlawyer.com/2020/07/03/allison-bailey-v-stonewall/. live.
  11. Web site: I am suing Stonewall. Donate to my crowdfund. 24 March 2021. Allison Bailey. en-US. 23 March 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210323062033/https://allisonbailey.co.uk/. live.
  12. News: Out of court. Diversity charity in trans row. en. The Times. live. 24 March 2021. 0140-0460. 12 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210212185438/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/diversity-charity-in-trans-row-n38p6xfq5.
  13. Web site: The case against Stonewall. 24 October 2021. Allison Bailey. en-US. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024131009/https://allisonbailey.co.uk/the-case-against-stonewall/. live.
  14. Web site: 29 June 2020. Barrister embroiled in trans rights row raises £60,000 to sue Stonewall despite CrowdJustice briefly taking her page down. 24 March 2021. Legal Cheek. 18 April 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210418153956/https://www.legalcheek.com/2020/06/barrister-embroiled-in-trans-rights-row-raises-60000-to-sue-stonewall-despite-crowdjustice-briefly-taking-her-page-down/. live.
  15. Web site: 1 July 2020. Censored or offensive? CrowdJustice trans row rumbles on. 24 March 2021. Legal Futures. en-GB. 8 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210508020421/https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/censored-or-offensive-crowdjustice-trans-row-rumbles-on. live.
  16. News: Ames. Jonathan. 1 December 2021. Stonewall 'wanted lawyer Allison Bailey punished for trans views'. The Times. 11 December 2021. 11 December 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211211112107/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/stonewall-wanted-lawyer-allison-bailey-punished-for-trans-views-tbgj83ttb. live.
  17. Web site: Webber . Ashleigh . Philosophical belief: barrister's tribunal claim against Stonewall begins . 26 April 2022 . Personnel Today . 27 April 2022 . 26 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220426172620/https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/allison-bailey-case-philosophical-belief-stonewall/ . live .
  18. Web site: 27 July 2022 . Barrister wins discrimination case against law firm over gender critical views . 27 July 2022 . The Independent . en . 27 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220727120648/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/allison-bailey-stonewall-gender-critical-b2104939.html . live .
  19. Web site: Faragher . Jo . Barrister wins gender critical belief discrimination claim . 27 July 2022 . Personnel Today . 27 July 2022 . 27 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220727120822/https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/allison-bailey-gender-critical/ . live .
  20. Web site: 27 July 2022. Bailey – a big relief for trans people but it's not all good news. O'Thomson. Jess. 28 July 2022. Trans Safety Network. 27 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220727222418/https://transsafety.network/posts/bailey-v-gcc-analysis/. live.
  21. Web site: 27 July 2022 . Judiciary report . 27 July 2022 . Judiciary.uk . en . 27 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220727120434/https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Bailey-judgment.pdf . live .
  22. News: Ames . Jonathan . 22 September 2022 . Allison Bailey's appeal takes on Stonewall . The Times . 24 September 2022 . en . live . 22 September 2022 . https://archive.today/20220922010339/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/allison-baileys-appeal-takes-on-stonewall-ggdc2272n .
  23. Web site: Faragher . Jo . Gender-critical barrister loses appeal against Stonewall. 24 July 2024 . personneltoday.com . Personnel Today . 26 July 2024.
  24. News: Bodkin . Henry . 2023-07-08 . Gender-critical barrister wins top payout as judge issues stinging criticism of chambers . en-GB . . 2023-07-08 .
  25. News: Kirkup. James. 8 July 2020. Are whistleblowers being silenced at the NHS gender clinic?. The Spectator. 22 April 2021. 22 April 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210422201432/https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/Are-whistleblowers-being-silenced-at-the-NHS-gender-clinic. live.
  26. Suissa. Judith. Sullivan. Alice. 10 March 2021. The Gender Wars, Academic Freedom and Education. Journal of Philosophy of Education. Wiley. 55. 1. 55–82. 10.1111/1467-9752.12549. 233646159. free.
  27. Web site: 14 February 2021. When it comes to race and gender, oppressed people can be oppressors too Sonia Sodha. 24 October 2021. The Observer. en. 24 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024003533/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/14/race-gender-oppressed-can-be-oppressors-too-kemi-badenoch. live.

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