Inadvisable Moose Joke
Good evening Welcome to the new subscribers. Hello to everyone who has been with us all week. Today was the first day of evidence from a Belfast Film Festival Witness. Michele Devlin, the CEO of the organisation was in the chair all day. Naomi Cunningham, Sara Morrison's barrister, asked the questions. If you are at all unfamiliar with the details of this case, please read the preview interview I did with Sara Morrison. Ms Morrison is claiming constructive dismissal and discrimination against the Film Festival over a saga which has its origins in her decision to speak at a Let Women Speak event in Belfast City Centre on 16 April 2023 (1hr 4mins in). Today Naomi Cunningham focused on the events leading up to 16 April 2023 and an email sent on 3 July 2023. This is it Michele Devlin has been here all week listening to Sara Morrison's evidence, supported as she was yesterday by former BFF Chair Mark Cousins and Festival founder Laurence McKeown. Morrison was also in court to hear what Devlin said today. BBC Northern Ireland's Lyndsey Telford dropped by for the third day in a row. After Lyndsey and I became paranoid about losing power in our laptops over the last two days whilst tweeting, I found a hitherto unnoticed plug socket within reach of our usual chairs. Directly behind them, in fact. And they say it's a journalist's job to spot important details....
Devlin was sworn in and taken through her witness statement by the BFF barrister Sean Doherty. Instead of immediately handing over to Naomi Cunningham for cross-examination, the serious allegation against Sara Morrison which began yesterday's proceedings was put to Michele Devlin. Doherty asked Devlin to take the court through her recollection of walking through the Belfast Exposed gallery during an exhibition called Seen to be Heard. One of the installations at the gallery was a transgender person offering manicures. Devlin said to Morrison how nice it would be to have the time to stop and get a manicure. According to Devlin, Morrison pulled a face and said "Eurgh! Not with it". Doherty asked what Devlin was referring to when she said "it". "The transgender person doing the manicure" replied Devlin. When this was put to Morrison yesterday she flatly denied the conversation had ever taken place. Are transwomen... men? Then it was time for the cross-examination. Although it is unclear how soon after 16 April it was when Devlin first watched the footage of Morrison's four minutes on the mic at the Let Women Speak event, Devlin says that when she did: "I sat on my desk and I put my head in my hands."
This was because "a number of our client organisations were mentioned. People we'd worked with, continued to work with and wanted to work with in the future." Devlin was "shocked" and felt that Morrison's words had the potential to do "real reputational damage" to the Film Festival. Devlin told Cunningham that she didn't do anything immediately. Work "was incredibly busy… and I needed time to take in the information". Devlin told the BFF's marketing manager (although there appears to be no record of this) and left it there. Cunningham suggested that the real reason Devlin did nothing was because she recognised it as "perfectly legitimate political speech". Cunningham asked her to stipulate the very worst part of the speech. Devlin knew exactly where the problem was. It was Morrison naming names:
"Do these so-called women's organisations speak for you?" said Morrison on 16 April 2023 "Do these self-styled messiahs represent us? These organisations are paid thousands of pounds through the public purse to sing songs to silence women speaking. Is that where you want your money going? These organisations, these women's organisations - WRDA, Alliance For Choice, Women's Policy Group Northern Ireland, The Women's Sector Lobbyist, Rape Crisis Nl...." Cunningham pointed out that Morrison's speech had been called transphobic. Was it? "There didn't seem to be any transphobic statements within it." Devlin replied. Cunningham took Devlin to the part of Morrison's speech where she said "I started this new iteration of Rape Crisis Nl, this is not the rape crisis I wanted. We need to keep men out of women's spaces." Cunningham wanted to know if Devlin knew what this meant. Devlin said it appeared to mean keeping men out of a rape crisis centre, but added "it's not a particularly well-crafted statement". Morrison's barrister wanted to explore this idea. She did so by taking Devlin to two short online posts raised in opposition to the LWS event by an account called Progressive Politics Northern Ireland. They read: 1) "Unfortunately this Sunday, there is a hateful transphobic event taking place in Belfast masquerading as a women’s rights event. It isn’t. Women’s rights organisations here are overwhelmingly trans-inclusive..." Cunningham wondered if Devlin knew that trans-inclusive meant operating on the basis that Trans Women Are Women. Devlin wasn't sure. There followed a tortuous half hour of questioning as Cunningham slowly made her point - that if rape crisis centres and refuges in Northern Ireland accept male-bodied people as women, then women suffering from trauma at the hands of men may be presented with a choice - refuse to be counselled by a trans-identifying man and risk being called a bigot or unpacking their trauma with someone's whose simple presence might perpetuate that trauma.
Part of the reason it took so long to get to that point was the interruptions from Devlin's barrister, Sean Doherty, who did not see how the questions were in any way relevant to the case. Cunningham suggested that a trans-inclusive women's organisation which accepts men into sensitive areas is "is a controversial point, and women have the right to feel very strongly about it" - so shutting down people for articulating those feelings is "illegitimate". Doherty protested that the BBF had never once suggested that what Morrison said at LWS was transphobic. The judge, Lisa Sturgeon, got involved, asking why Cunningham was asking these questions of Devlin. "Because" said Cunningham "Ms Devlin is the person who decided to start an investigation which was sparked by allegations of transphobia, so it's important to explore how important or legitimate they are." Are gender critical women a marginalised group? The next area Cunningham wanted to explore was Morrison's brief, which, as stated in her job description, was to "deliver an agreed number of outreach activities within marginalised communities". Are gender critical women marginalised in Northern Ireland, wondered Cunningham? "Some of my friends have those views", replied Devlin. The Moose in the Room Cunningham changed tack and took Devlin to a text she sent Mark Cousins - then outgoing chair of the BFF and still a current board member - which read: "Barristers met on Monday. Sara Palin V BFF. Hearing date to be set soon x" Cunningham wanted to know why Devlin had compared Sara Morrison to Sarah Palin, the American conservative politician who famously ran for Vice President on John McCain's ticket in 2008. It was because, said Devlin, the two Sara(h)s were "larger than life characters", "ebullient" and "loud". Cunningham pushed her. What else did Devlin think they had in common? "Maybe it was the moose hunting, they both do moose hunting", joked Devlin. Cunningham pulled a face (a bit like the one David Cameron pulled in Parliament when Gordon Brown told him he had only been Prime Minister for five days).
The judge quietly intervened to remind Devlin a tribunal was "not a place for humour". Cunningham asked what Palin was known for. Devlin suggested being "wacky". Cunningham asked one last time. "She has right wing opinions", replied Devlin. Are gender critical women marginalised pt 2 Cunningham turned to some more tweets about the LWS event. Derry Anti-Fascists wrote: Cunningham noted the direct far-right smear against women with gender-critical opinions. "Smearing is a word I'd never use" replied Devlin "but if that's your view I wouldn't disagree with it". The tweets continued. Seven Pound Sadie Suggs She/Her wrote: "Graham Linehan says he will be there. Bring tomato soup and stepladders - he's a 6'5" adult baby." Devlin did not know the tomato soup reference. Cunningham explained it to her. Bolshie Bish wrote: "Who's driving 4.5 hours up to Belfast [on] Sunday just to tell a transphobe to go fxck herself, and then driving 4.5 hours home??" Devlin said she was seeing these tweets for the first time. This teed up Cunningham's hypothetical. Although her client had attended the LWS speak event in a personal capacity, if she had worn a BFF t-shirt, would that not be a "legitimate piece of out-reach" to a marginalised community as part of her job? "That is not the way we do things", said Devlin. "We're a film festival." The Staniland Question We moved on to a discussion about a significant conversation two days after the LWS event which might have been the catalyst for the breakdown in relations between the two women. It has certainly been given a lot of weight already. The exact words spoken are understandably hazy, but the gist of it is that (according to Morrison) Devlin initiated a conversation about toilets, asking if Morrison would be comfortable with a trans person using the same toilet as her. Devlin today gave her perspective - she was simply pointing out that there were gender-neutral toilets in their facilities and wanted to know if Morrison was okay with that. She denies raising the prospect of a trans person. It appears that during this conversation, Morrison raised the Staniland question (which also came up in yesterday's evidence), though the phrase "big erect penis" which is in Devlin's witness statement and was alleged to have been used by Morrison at the time was not raised by Devlin today. Morrison's question, according to Devlin, was "if my young daughter saw a male changing in a changing room whether I'd be okay with that". Devlin felt Morrison's appropriation of her 7 year old daughter like a "gut punch". Cunningham pushed the point, suggesting it was perfectly reasonable to conjure "vivid, concrete illustrations" rather than disappear into "abstractions". "I think using fear based examples is a kind of low way to go" said Devlin. "It's a very fear-laden example to give me about my child."
Cunningham wasn't letting it go. "But safeguarding 101 is to take nothing on trust. Everyone wants their child to be protected..." Once court reconvened, Cunningham suggested Morrison was trying to explain her position using an example. Devlin said she was very "disturbed" her colleague had chosen to bring her daughter into it. Cunningham suggested that in being angry about pointing out where the concept Trans Women Are Women leads, Devlin had the wrong target. She was "shooting the messenger". Big Board Devlin admits that the twitterstorm whipped up around Morrison's LWS talk had died down by the time it came to a BFF board meeting on 4 May 2023. Morrison's actions were not on the agenda, nor was Devlin planning to raise them in AOB. Board member Lucy Baxter set things in motion once more by raising the issue. Devlin wrote: "Lucy expressed concern that it would negatively impact on the organisation and could have implications for our reputation." The minutes of the board meeting were circulated. The outgoing chair Mark Cousins got on the case. On 25 May he wrote to Devlin: "Hi Michele. Have tried to find the video of the Trans rally The incoming chairs were Marie-Therese McGivern and Lisa Barros D'sa. Cousin did write to them, saying: "I saw a report of a rally in Belfast at which Parker Posey spoke. I'm sure you're aware of Posey's previous comments, but if our staff member shared a platform with her, then this is even I more serious than I thought." As a board member I'd like to back you in whatever investigation or process is happening." Cunningham then raised another communication raised by Cousins a month later, in which he wrote to Devlin about a conversation he'd had in a bar with Morrison after the Docs Ireland event. Although this did not come up in evidence in its entirety today, he wrote: "I told Sara that I had heard reports of her speech from several sources including other board members. There was no hint of regret for, or doubt about, what she did. As you’ll know “I’m standing up for the rights of women” is the argument used by conservatives and religious people in several countries, and a new staple of the anti-LGBTQ anti-lslamic right.”
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Cousins went on to write "I therefore feel that we need to accelerate the process by which this is sorted, if possible. Cunningham took Devlin to the latter part of the email and suggested that this was Cousins attempting to get Devlin removed from the BFF. The Pride on the Big Screen Mystery The final part of the day was taken up with what may end up being a very serious matter for Devlin's credibility. Or - tomorrow - may completely vindicate her.
On 3 July 2023 Devlin sent an email asking LGBT groups for their input into BFF's involvement in Pride Belfast, a project called Pride on the Big Screen. Yesterday Morrison's lawyers asked for this email to be added to the list of issues - as it was, in their view, a deliberate act of detriment against Morrison. The judge would not allow it, but also indicated she would be happy to hear the arguments as to why it was a detriment. The email is significant in a number of ways. First of all, Morrison was asked by Devlin to gather a list of all the LGBT groups in Belfast and send them an email so they could generate interest in their proposed attendance at Belfast Pride at the end of July 2023. The plan was to screen some LGBTQ films on their £100k outdoor Big Screen at the Belfast Stories site. Both Morrison and her colleague Mary Lindsay are adamant about two things - firstly that the idea was first proposed after the Docs Ireland event at the end of June and secondly that neither of them were keen to do it, as they were both exhausted after Docs Ireland. There is a suspicion amongst Morrison's legal team that the idea to have a Pride on the Big Screen event and the request that Morrison send an email to Belfast's LGBTQ groups may have been, in part, a deliberate attempt to cause problems for her. Michele Devlin is insistent that Pride on the Big Screen had been in the planning since February 2023. Her problem is that so far not a scrap of paperwork has been produced to show this planning, until the email of 3 July. Devlin is absolutely certain there is plenty of paperwork and has agreed to find it tonight and bring it to court tomorrow. All parties agree that Sara Morrison did not want to send an email to LBGTQ groups given what had happened to her in April. Devlin thought this was mystifying, especially as, according to her, Morrison had told her there was "nothing transphobic" in her LWS speech and that anyway "it had all died down and blown over".
In the event, Devlin agreed to send the email. She chose to do it by cc-ing all the recipients, including, very prominently, Sara Morrison. Cunningham started: "In an email of this nature you'd normally use bcc so people wouldn't see other peoples' email addresses...." she stopped. "You look baffled", she said to Devlin. Devlin said that there was no specific policy at the BFF. If people are cc'd it means they can see who else is involved "we often know each other", she said. Cunningham asked her if that was the case, why after sending her 3 July email, she sent an email on 5 July stating "Dear Friends and Colleagues... apologies to everyone included in our email circular - I had thought I BCC’d everyone - when in fact it was CC. This was a genuine mistake. I have specs but will be going to Specsavers tomorrow for a revamp of my prescription!" Devlin suggested that if Sara Morrison had sent the email as she had been asked to do "it might well have been bcc'd". Devlin did not accept this. Nor did she accept that by putting Sara's name so prominently in the cc list for the email put her at risk. "You could argue the opposite" she said. Using Sara's name in email like that was a sign of their determination get everyone working together. And there the day ended. I am told there might be another half day of evidence from Michele Devlin (who kindly allowed herself to be photographed as she left the court building this afternoon), followed by Mark Cousins, which I am sure will be very interesting. Comment Today was undoubtedly a tough day for Devlin, as yesterday was for Morrison. I have sat many times at the back of a court wondering about the pressure people are put under when giving evidence in court. Lawyers (not any reading this, obvs) seem largely oblivious to this. To me it's the equivalent of taking someone off the street and sticking them in the BBC Ten O'clock News studio, pointing them in the direction of the autocue and wishing them the best of luck. My overriding feeling during a long trial is usually what a colossal waste of money everything is. I felt it again today when Michele Devlin said the BFF wanted to update their employee terms and conditions in 2023, partly because they had lain untouched since 2013. They remain untouched in 2025 because the BFF's resources she said, rather plaintively, had basically been spent "on all this". That made me think three things: 1) whatever the rights and wrongs of this specific case and whatever the importance of fighting against stupid ideologies, if the BFF were to fold as a result of the case (win or lose), that would be a terrible shame, given its apparent positive intent. 2) there are human beings on all sides who would far rather be getting on, working hard together and doing something creative and interesting with their lives. 3) who is funding the BFF's case?! Two questions for you, dear newsletter readers, if you've managed to make it this far: - would you prefer a shorter report sooner after proceedings have finished, or do you prefer a multi-thousand word extravaganza? - Is this font too large? I had complaints earlier newsletter fonts were too small to read on a mobile phone, but this one is doing my head in. Split the difference and go a bit smaller? Or is this just right? I've just started wearing glasses so my brain and eyes are still not quite on the same wavelength... Just hit reply and your response will go securely and confidentially to my email inbox. Any other feedback also welcome. Right - back tomorrow for more. Take care. |
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