Let the tribunal begin...
Good evening, There was quite a delay to the start of proceedings this afternoon. Things were due to kick off at 2pm, but after we'd all been waiting in court for about twenty minutes we were told there was a last minute application (heard in private) for an order stop anyone at court naming or otherwise identifying Sara Morrison's adult child. This was granted by the court. There was a much shorter delay whilst Employment Judge Lisa Sturgeon dealt with my application to live tweet proceedings. This was granted to any accredited journalist without objection from either party. By this point it was 3.41pm and the hearing was only due to go on till 4pm, but the judge allowed an extension to 4.15pm. Showtime Sara Morrison is taking on Belfast Film Festival at an employment tribunal at Killymeal House in Belfast, claiming constructive dismissal and discrimination. If you haven't already you can read the background here. As is the process in employment courts, the claimant goes first, and as the only witness for her side, Ms Morrison was soon sworn in.
Unlike the Magistrates' Courts in England and Wales where witnesses are first examined and then cross-examined, in a tribunal (as per High Court civil cases), the witness statement is put into evidence and then the witness is cross-examined on it. Barrister Sean Doherty put the questions for the Belfast Film Festival to Morrison. The Festival's case appears to be that by taking part in a Let Women Speak event, and criticising Women's groups she was meant to be "building relationships" with, Morrison was potentially in breach of contract. Doherty started by taking Morrison through her contract, noting that if she was to do any other work, paid or unpaid, she had to notify her employers. Morrison was wearing a "hi-viz" when she gave her talk. She initially denied she was working at the event, implying she was making up the numbers, but when pushed she accepted she was nominally involved, or in Doherty's words, had "some kind of role" at the event.
And then there was the nature of the event itself. Morrison accepted it was a "controversial" event. Doherty addressed Morrison's political views that "trans women are not women". Morrison readily agreed, saying "you can't change sex". Doherty asked if she knew that many people "vehemently disagree" with her perspective. Morrison did, but said she was speaking in a "personal capacity" at the LWS event and did not give her name nor say where she worked. "Belfast being Belfast", replied Doherty, "people know who you are". There's no denying that. Doherty wanted to know how Morrison thought criticising the women's groups she mentioned in her speech was helping build and maintain relationships with community groups, as per her contract. Political beliefs or just criticism?
Doherty was very keen to suggest to Morrison she was not expressing a political opinion. Rather, she was gratuitously burning bridges she was contractually required to build or maintain. Morrison was adamant - she was expressing a political opinion. "Are you seriously suggesting that?" asked Doherty During her speech on 16 April 2023, Morrison also criticised "elected representatives up on the bridge. You might want to take note of them and not vote for them. They are here to silence women." Morrison accepted that Belfast Film Festival was a grant-dependent organisation and criticising politicians may cause problems for them. One tweet (with a screenshot of Morrison delivering her speech) read: "This is Inclusion Officer at Belfast Film Fest speaking at an anti trans demo... This is the tip of the iceberg. #belfastfilmfestival is not a safe space for LGBT people".
The Arts Council, Northern Ireland Screen, the British Council and various other funders were tagged in. One email came from Ruth McCarthy, "artistic director" of Outburst Arts. McCarthy wrote to Morrison's boss, the Belfast Film Festival CEO Michele Devlin, saying that Morrison: "spoke openly at an anti-trans event in Belfast. She spoke on the same platform as Jolene Bunting, a Britain First fascist who is proudly anti-gay, anti abortion, anti-Catholic and anti-migrant. Jolene Bunting was also recently taken to court by local gay drag performer and regular Outburst contributor Matthew Cavan, who she labelled as a paedophile and harassed repeatedly while encouraging others to do the same.
"In addition to legitimising an anti-gay fascist, Sara stood on the same platform and legitimised anti-trans campaigner Posie Parker [aka Kellie-Jay Keen - founder of LWS], who organised the event. Posie Parker is an anti-queer crusader who has been touring her circus around the world and building anti-trans sentiment that has caused and continues to cause massive damage, not only trans people but to LGBT people across the board and especially those living in the most precarious economic and political circumstances.
"The anti-trans and anti-LGBT discourse that is perpetuated by events such as the one that Sara lent her voice to, are impacting on the safety and well-being of real people. We have worked with vulnerable trans and queer people and lesbian women in 27 countries globally who are being battered by this growing right-wing discourse, human beings who are our friends, family, team members, arts network, our support and people we love. At Outburst we see every day the damage that this discourse is responsible for and it is terrifying. "I will always champion freedom of expression and freedom of speech, especially in art, and have no interest in silencing intelligent open discourse. There is however a world of difference between generous, kind and brave space for exchange - a space that we work hard for Outburst to be - and legitimising and adding to dangerous and damaging anti LGBT rhetoric. To receive an email where Sara is included as someone we are invited to organise an LGBT event with on behalf of Belfast Film Festival, feels deeply inappropriate. We unreservedly applaud Pride's decision this year to centre trans rights. We are in this together or we are lost. "Things have become too dangerous and if we are not part of the solution, not part of intelligently building trust, kindness and solidarity instead of firing up division like Sara has done, then we are part of the problem." McCarthy finished with an oblique suggestion that if Sara were still involved with LGBT projects going forward, Outburst would have a problem. In response, Morrison noted McCarthy had shared an office with her for five years and was well aware of Sara's views. She also claimed she had no idea Jolene Bunting was speaking at the LWS event until afterwards. Another tweet was read out: "Hi there" it said "I understand you guys are hosting Pride on the Big Screen. I wonder how this can be the case when your own inclusion office is a noted transphobe and spoke openly at a Kelly [sic] Jay Keen rally a few weeks ago alongside Jolene Bunting and actual neo-Nazis about trans people".
Morrison accepted they might, but added "people can believe what they want". Morrison also took issue with the allegation that she was anti-trans, saying she was "very pro LGBT". She also pointed out she didn't mention trans people at the LWS event once. "Saying a trans woman is a man is hardly supporting the T in LGBT, is it?" asked Doherty. Morrison replied to say "A trans man is [also] a woman... that has nothing to do with the rights of trans people", which, she added, she supported wholeheartedly. Comment Please be aware I make the following comment in complete ignorance of the idiosyncrasies of employment law, but I feel this is shaping up to be a tribunal about two different things, which I suspect will hinge on whether Sara Morrison was perfectly entitled as to say what she did by The Big Fish under the Human Rights Act, or whether she was bound by the terms of her contract in Employment Law not to say them. The other thing to throw into the mix is what (if any) procedural or prejudicial mistakes the Belfast Film Festival made in dealing with Sara's speech and the subsequent demands for her defenestration. Please hit reply to send any feedback or comments. In my pre-tribunal tweets I was writing a bit of gumph about Belfast, the building, the atmosphere, who is here, outside the actual tribunal proceedings etc. If you like that sort of reportage-y stuff, let me know. If you'd prefer I stuck to straight court reports, let me know. All feedback is welcome. Just hit reply and it comes straight to me in complete confidence. Nick
© Nick Wallis 2025 |
|
Gender Blog | Unsubscribe |