This employment tribunal is taking place at Killymeal House in Belfast. Sara Morrison is the Claimant. Belfast Film Festival (BFF) are the Respondent. Morrison is claiming discrimination against her for her gender critical (or as she prefers “sex realist”) views after she was socially cancelled for speaking at this Let Women Speak event (see 1hr 4 mins in).
It began on Monday 10 November and ran for five days. After a weekend break it is scheduled to crank back up tomorrow and potentially run for another five days until this Friday 21 November. You can read an interview with Sara Morrison, the claimant, in The Times and here on this website. The case also has a briefing page on the Sex Matters website.
I have been covering the case in court and will be there again tomorrow. The live tweets for each day in court can be found formatted into something approaching readability here on this website, and, of course you can find all the threads under my profile on X/twitter.
I have been sending out daily emails to newsletter subscribers covering events in court (donate here). They are long, but hopefully absorbing reads which capture most of the day’s action. Here is a recap:
Day 1 – Monday 10 November – Sara Morrison starts giving evidence
Sara Morrison was due to be sworn in at 2pm, but there was a delay as the court heard an application to anonymise her eldest child, both in court and in any reporting of the case. This was agreed by the judge. The judge then dealt with my application to live tweet proceedings, which was supported by both parties. The judge agreed my application without needing to make an order, though at the prompting of Sean Doherty, Brighton Film Festival’s barrister, the judge confirmed that only accredited journalists are allowed to live tweet proceedings.
Morrison eventually took to the witness chair at 3.41pm. Unlike the Magistrates’ and Crown Courts where witnesses are first examined and then cross-examined, in an employment 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 (hereafter BFF or Festival) to Morrison. The Festival’s case appears to be that by taking part in a Let Women Speak event, and criticising Northern Irish Women’s groups she was meant to be “building relationships” with, Morrison was potentially in breach of contract.
In the Breach
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, which she hadn’t when it came to the Let Women Speak (LWS) event. The video of the event shows Morrison was wearing a hi-viz jacket when she gave her talk. She initially denied she was working at the event, implying she was just making up the numbers, but when pushed she accepted she had, in Doherty’s words, “some kind of role” beyond deciding to speak at it.
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”.
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. “My criticism of them was about their suppression of free speech” said Morrison.
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 about “taxpayer-funded organisations trying to shut down free speech.”
The Online Mob
Doherty moved to the social media and email campaign against Morrison which sprang up in the immediate aftermath of her speech. Doherty brought up various examples. Three sock accounts were mentioned, which Morrison observed had all been set up by the same person, allegedly the CEO of a domestic abuse charity, who only stopped when the police got involved.
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 BFF funders were tagged in.
Ruth McCarthy (no relation) sent a long email the Festival saying Morrison “spoke on the same platform as Jolene Bunting, a Britain First fascist who is proudly anti-gay, anti abortion, anti-Catholic and anti-migrant… 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.“
Doherty asked Morrison “Do you accept that by speaking at the same event as Jolene Bunting people might think you share her views?” 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 noted “A trans man is a woman… that has nothing to do with the rights of trans people”, which, she added, she supported wholeheartedly.
Day 2 – Tuesday 11 November – Morrison remains in the Chair
The day began with a serious allegation about Morrison’s attitude towards trans people. Doherty said Morrison had been with her boss, Michele Devlin, at a Belfast Exposed event. Devlin alleges that Morrison saw a trans person and said “Ergh!… I can’t look at it”.
Was this true? asked Doherty
Morrison laughed. “No!”
Morrison was then asked if she had ever asked Devlin how comfortable she might be if Devlin’s then seven year old daughter were to be confronted in a woman’s communal changing room with “a big erect penis”.
Morrison said the conversation did take place but not in the way Devlin remembers it. She was asking Devlin what’s known as the Helen Staniland question (variations on “Do you believe that male-sexed people should have the right to undress and shower in a communal changing room with women and girls?”) Morrison categorically denied using the words “erect penis”. Doherty asked if she thought Devlin was lying in her witness statement. Morrison indicated she thought she was.
Next, Doherty took Morrison to Laurence McKeown’s witness statement. McKeown is, notoriously, a former IRA member. He also founded the BFF. McKeown wrote: “The Claimant [Morrison] is entitled to her views, however; by criticising women’s groups at the Let Women Speak event, the Claimant did immense damage to the reputation of the Respondent [the BFF] and to relationships between the Respondent and other organisations that the Respondent works extensively with.”
Doherty drew Morrison’s attention to McKeown’s point that she was entitled to her views. “I’m just not allowed to say them out loud”, responded Morrison, drily. Doherty countered that her views were potentially alienating to LGBT people. Morrison said that she considered herself more inclusive as she had her views and was accepting of theirs.
At this point Morrison asked to be excused. She appeared to be in some distress. She hurried out of the courtroom and later confirmed she’d gone to be sick.
Once Morrison had returned Doherty slowly and steadily advanced his argument: that the BFF had acted thoroughly reasonably and decently towards Morrison throughout 2023 and 2024. Morrison agreed that from the moment she was told there was an investigation into what had happened, it had never taken place. Instead, Morrison went off sick and raised a grievance against her employer which soon became a crowdfunded claim of discrimination and eventually a claim for constructive dismissal after Morrison resigned in November 2024.
During her evidence, Morrison readily agreed that the grievance outcome and her appeal outcome was thorough and not a whitewash (even tho she disagreed with both outcomes). She also agreed that the proposed investigation into what happened did not take place. She also agreed that at no stage were disciplinary proceedings brought against her by her employer.
Morrison also agreed that because of her speech at the LWS event in April 2023, the proposed BFF involvement in Belfast Pride in July 2023 did not go ahead. This was because, she conceded, of the hostility towards Morrison remaining an employee of BFF.
Once she had finished her evidence, Sara Morrison was free to speak to the media. She told me being a witness “was an intense experience. Being under oath and having to go through everything in such detail was tough… What I’ve appreciated most, though, is the support from people both in person and online. It’s been a long, emotional few days, but I’m relieved to have finally had my say.”
Day 3 – Wed 12 November – Michele Devlin
As Sara Morrison was the only witness giving evidence to support her case, it was time for the BFF witnesses, beginning with Michele Devlin, it’s CEO. Devlin was sworn in and taken through her witness statement by the BFF barrister Sean Doherty. Instead of immediately handing over to Morrison’s barrister, Naomi Cunningham, for cross-examination, the serious allegation which began Day 2’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 in 2023. 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.
Then it was time for the cross-examination. Devlin was asked what she did when she saw Sara Morrison’s contribution to the LWS event. She replied: “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 says she told the BFF’s marketing manager and left it there.
Cunningham suggested that the real reason Devlin did nothing was because she recognised it as “perfectly legitimate political speech”.
“I didn’t understand the half of it, to be honest”, said Devlin “I only watched it once.”
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.
The two Sara(h)s
There followed a lengthy discussion about trans issues and whether men who said they were women actually were women. 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.”
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.
“And that was what you were really saying [in the text to Mark Cousins], wasn’t it?” asked Cunningham.
“No”, insisted Devlin. “No it wasn’t”.
“And gender-critical people are quite often smeared as far right, aren’t they?”, asked Cunningham.
“Some of you are”, replied Devlin.
“And you were joining in”, said Cunningham.
Devlin was having none of it. She was making a joke about Morrison’s “ebullient” and “blustery” personality.
Cunningham moved to the conversation in the BFF office in which the Staniland question was raised, two days after the LWS event. 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. Then came Morrison’s question. According to Devlin, Morrison asked: “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…”
“… of course, yes…” replied Devlin.
“… if we look at your statement…” started Cunningham.
“I actually need a break”, announced Devlin, abruptly. This was granted by the judge. Devlin walked out and the court rose for a few minutes.
Going by the Board
Devlin admits 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.” This concern was picked up by Mark Cousins, another board member, who wrote later that month:
“Hi Michele. Have tried to find the video of the Trans rally that Sarah [sic] spoke at. Was it the Let Women Speak event, at which Parker Posey [sic] spoke and Graham Lenehan [sic] attended? If so this is more serious than I thought. I would like to email the chairs.“
A month later Cousins wrote to Devlin about a conversation he’d had in a bar with Morrison after the Docs Ireland event. 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.”
Cousins went on to write “I therefore feel that we need to accelerate the process by which this is sorted, if possible... We can’t have an inclusion/diversity officer who, many weeks after making such an ill-advised speech, is still standing by her actions completely.”
On 3 July 2023 Devlin sent an email asking LGBT groups for their input into BFF’s involvement in Pride Belfast (at the end of the month), in a project called Pride on the Big Screen.
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. 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 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. She has not been able to provide a scrap of written or witness evidence to support this assertion.
Either way, at the end of June, Devlin told Morrison and Lindsay the event was happening, but when Morrison expressed her concern about sending an email to groups of people who had monstered her in April, Devlin agreed to send the email instead. Devlin sent the email, putting Morrison as the first cc’d recipient and every other organisation and individual in the same open copy category. When asked why she open copied everyone rather than bcc’d them as is normal, Devlin said there was no specific policy at the BFF. Cunningham asked her if that was the case, why after sending her 3 July email, did she send an email on 5 July which read:
“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 that by putting Morrison’s name at the top of the open copy list put her at risk. “You could argue the opposite” she said. Using Morrison’s name in email like that was a sign of their determination get everyone working together.
“So it was a gesture of support?” asked Cunningham.
“Yes”, said Devlin.
Day 4 – Thursday 13 November – Mark Cousins and Michele Devlin
The day was due to start with the continuation of Devlin’s evidence, but BFF board member Mark Cousins had a flight to catch in the afternoon, so Devlin was shunted to the afternoon, so Cousins could complete his evidence by lunchtime. Naomi Cunningham asked the questions again on behalf of Sara Morrison.
Mark Cousins is an intriguing character. He is fluent, well-versed in a number of politico-historical discourses and thinks it is possible to change sex, though the only examples he suggested during his evidence were flowers and trees, rather than humans.
Naomi Cunningham wanted to know if “shaming a marginalised group” was a bad thing. Cousins agreed but was also quick to point out that gender-critical people were not in the minority. Among working-class communities in Belfast, most people believe men are men and women are women and that you can’t change sex.
Cunningham said Cousins had taken a side in this “debate”. He replied saying “I passionately care for the rights of trans people, and, I hope, everyone”. Cunningham moved to Cousins’ witness statement, in which he said he was “surprised” that during her LWS speech, Sara Morrison had “criticised many of the organisations that the Respondent had worked with”. Cunningham asked Cousins to tell her which of the organisation mentioned by Morrison the BFF had worked with.
“I don’t know”, said Cousins “I’m a board member.”
Cunningham pointed out he had put in a sworn witness statement that Morrison had criticised organisations the BFF had worked with, but he couldn’t name a single one.
“I can’t remember,” said Cousins. “When I made this statement I checked that we had worked with these organisations.”
Cunningham looked at the date of his witness statement. It had been signed earlier this month. How could he have forgotten already?
Cousins claimed it “doesn’t matter”. What’s more important is that when he saw the video it “really was inappropriate to denounce our treasured partner organisations who are acclaimed for the work they do”, adding that one of the things he like about the BFF is the way they partner with numerous community groups.
“You haven’t yet partnered with the Womens Rights Network, have you?” Members of the Womens Right’s Network have been present throughout this tribunal supporting Morrison.
“No we haven’t,” replied Cousins.
“Should you?” asked Cunningham
“Yes.” said Cousins, adding he was happy to work with any community group that wanted to put their views across in a non-aggressive way.
Getting Dirty By Association
Cunningham explored Cousins’ thoughts about Morrison attending the LWS rally. As corroborated by the written evidence, Cousins has a very big problem with LWS organiser Kellie-Jay Keen and what he says is her willingness to platform “extremist views”.
Cunningham wondered what that had to do with Morrison – was he attempting to tar her with the same brush as some of the people (Jolene Bunting appears to be a particularly divisive figure in Belfast) who also spoke at the event. Cousins insisted he was not seeking to find “guilt by association” but did at one point suggest Morrison was getting herself “dirty by association” with extremists.
He felt that the BFF should “express love to the community as an antidote to LWS and extremist views being platformed”.
Cunningham took Cousins to the pictures of Michele Devlin wearing her TRANS INCLUSIONAL FEMINIST t-shirt at Belfast Pride. A long discussion about what that meant ensued as Cousins refused to accept the framing of a transgender woman as a man who says he is a woman.
“Trans women are women” he said.
“Are you saying trans women are different from women?” asked Cunningham
“There are women and trans women and men and trans men”
“So they’re different”, stated Cunningham
“They are women”, said Cousins “They’re a type of woman.”
Once that had been disagreed on, Cunningham asked about Devlin’s attendance at Belfast Pride and wondered if there had been signs suggesting TERFs should be punched or other forms of violence meted out to them then attendance at the event would be “ill-judged” on Devlin’s part.
Sean Doherty intervened to point out no such evidence was in the bundle. Cunningham said she was pretty sure if they looked they would find some. Cousins found the question so hypothetical he couldn’t answer it.
Cunningham said Cousins was holding Morrison to an “impossibly high standard” by censuring her attendance at LWS. Cousins disagreed. The problem was “the central speaker” (KJK) who had said toxic things in the past – such as “Islam… disgusting”.
Cunningham wondered if that was Sara Morrison’s failing too.
“I don’t always believe in guilt by association” said Cousins, apparently shifting his position from one where he didn’t believe in guilt by association at all, to one where he would make an exception in this case.
Cunningham wondered why Cousins was so upset at the lack of regret Morrison had when he encountered her on 23 June 2023 in the bar. He said he finds the phrase “standing up for the rights of women” indelibly tainted by the far right. In 2023 he had just made a film about Mussolini and he told Cunningham that everywhere he went whilst making the film he encountered far right men, and it was always men saying that they were standing up for the rights of women. He says the phrase both “haunted” and “was scaring” him. It is a phrase he’s heard used “by Tommy Robinson” and “the anti-immigrant people down south”.
Challenged on why he had a problem when a woman said it, Cousins seemed to get a bit confused. He was himself “a feminist” and it was the “misappropriation” of the phrase that was most “troubling”. He invoked the ghost of Emmeline Pankhurst to say he was sure she would be horrified by the way it had been misappropriated.
Cunningham wasn’t having any of this. She suggested that Cousins had basically smeared her client with a far right trope in the same way Devlin had with her Sarah Palin gag. “Well, that wasn’t Michele’s finest hour” conceded Cousins and wanted the court to note he did not respond with even “a smiley”.
Changing the subject, Cousins took Cunningham to his email of 25 June 2023 – where he said “We can’t have an inclusion/diversity officer who, many weeks after making such an ill-advised speech, is still standing by her actions completely”. The idea that this was an attempt to get Morrison sacked was “jaw dropping” and “so far off beam” he couldn’t believe it. “I hadn’t even thought of that”, he said.
As Cunningham explored what he was thinking by sending the message, it transpired Cousins wanted Morrison removed from the role of Inclusion Co-ordinator.
“What are you going to do – make her the accountant?” asked Cunningham.
Devlin’s Back
At the end of Day 3 Michele promised she would bring in documentary evidence proving that Pride on the Big Screen 2023 had been in the planning since February 2023. She returned with 145 pages of document to back up her case. 37 pages of the evidence was the operating manual for the BFF’s Big Screen and another 37 pages was an event management plan for something which had taken place in 2022. Cunningham wondered how the operating manual was going to be of any use to the judge. Devlin thought it would give everyone some insight into what the BFF do.
“It might help them erect a Big Screen” noted Cunningham, but she still wasn’t sure what “it could possibly do to assist” the tribunal.
“I don’t know”, said Devlin. “I’ve never been to a tribunal.”
None of the 145 pages contained a word of evidence confirming that BFF was planning to produce Pride on the Big Screen at the 2023 Belfast Pride before the end of June 2023. Cunningham said the bundle was just about “the best evidence the claimant could wish for to demonstrate you cooked up this event in order to orchestrate a pile on”.
“I don’t accept that at all”, said Devlin.
“To invite us to co-create an event for Belfast Pride with this team member, came as quite a shock. Trans rights is a central theme to the Pride celebrations this year, and to invite trans inclusive organisations to work with this individual, without addressing the very public and very dangerous opinions she holds while in the position of being your Inclusion Officer, is not something I can be part of or endorse.”
“This is not a complaint you have to take seriously is it?” asked Cunningham.
“Of course i do”, said Devlin.
“She’s complaining about dangerous opinions. You can’t police peoples’ thoughts can you?”
“No I wouldn’t want to” replied Devlin.
“Literally dangerous. It’s obvious nonsense isn’t it? It’s hysterical.”
“No”, countered Devlin. “It’s not hysterical – it’s her opinion.”
By the end of Day 4, from the evidence which has been heard in court to date, I was able to construct a timeline around what I call The Evil Plot. This is the claimant’s case, which is hotly disputed by the BFF who have called it “rubbish”. Bearing that in mind, here goes:
The Evil Plot
18 April 2023 Michele Devlin, the BFF CEO, posts a tweet celebrating a Good Friday Agreement event. A reply to that tweet alerts Devlin to Morrison’s participation in the LWS event. Devlin hides the reply and moves to assist Morrison who is getting such a barrage of abuse online, she eventually has to get the police involved.
4 May there is a quarterly BFF board meeting. No item is put on the agenda about LWS, but board member Lucy Baxter brings it up asking “what is going on that a BFF employee is speaking at this anti-trans, right wing event?”
5 May Devlin updates the new co-chairs of the BFF (Marie-Therese McGivern and Lisa Barros D’sa), sending them a link to Morrison’s speech at LWS and reporting a conversation with Pedro Donald, owner of the Sunflower Pub, who asked Devlin “what is the BFF Inclusion Officer doing speaking at a rally with this far right-wing crowd?”
25 May Mark Cousins gets involved and expresses profound concern. He hasn’t yet seen Morrison’s speech, but he has found out it happened at a LWS event. As many readers of this newsletter will know, LWS is founded and run by Posie Parker, who is nowadays better known as Kelly-Jay Keen-Minshull (or just Kelly-Jay Keen). Cousins texts Devlin:
“Hi Michele. Have tried to find the video of the Trans rally that Sarah [sic] spoke at. Was it the Let Women Speak event, at which Parker Posey [sic] spoke and Graham Lenehan [sic] attended? If so this is more serious than I thought. I would like to email the chairs.” He does so, telling them “I’m sure you’re aware of Posey’s [sic] 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.“
23 June Cousins has an encounter with Morrison in a bar during Docs Ireland. He is startled to find she is unrepentant about her speech at LWS (which he still hasn’t seen).
25 June Cousins contacts Devlin, writing: “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.” Cousins, an influential (and, as Naomi Cunningham herself described him “charismatic”) figure within the BFF makes his position clear. “we need to accelerate the process by which this is sorted… We can’t have an inclusion/diversity officer who, many weeks after making such an ill-advised speech, is still standing by her actions completely. The same day Cousins makes his views known to the co-chairs.
28 June, the co-chairs and Devlin have a conference. During this conference they concoct a plan which will propel Morrison towards the exit: BFF will propose using their Big Screen to show various films on the Belfast Stories site during Belfast Pride at the end of July. Morrison will be not only required to work on it, but she will send an email to all the LGBTQ organisations on the BFF database asking for their input. Light the blue touch paper and stand back.
29 June Hours after her meeting with the co-chairs, Devlin sends an email to her contacts at the City Council asking if it might be possible for the BFF “to host another screening on our big screen on the Belfast Stories site as part of Pride. On Sunday 30th July…. There is a tight turnaround on this, and we aren’t in the Pride brochure so it would be great if you could let me know asap if this is possible so we can get publicity out.”
Devlin then approaches Morrison and tells her that she wants her to work on Pride on the Big Screen (PBS) with her colleague Mary Lindsay. Neither Morrison or Lindsay are keen. Both are exhausted after Docs Ireland and the they don’t have enough time to get it right. Devlin is insistent. She tells Morrison to pull together all the email addresses of their LBGT contacts.
3 July Devlin sends an email to the BFF’s LGBT contacts, putting every organisation in the cc rather than bcc list, with Morrison’s name at the very top.
4 July The LGBT groups see Sara’s name and the mob begins to descend, feeding off each others’ righteousness. The fallout moves online – the twitterstorm is whipped up once more. An external PR company is brought in to craft a statement. Devlin doesn’t like it. Instead she sends out the following: “We have been made aware of the incident and are investigating. We want to reassure you that Belfast Film Festival passionately supports your values. We will celebrate and defend them.”
5 July Devlin calls in an external HR firm to do the job, then cancels BFF’s involvement in Belfast Pride.
25 July Morrison is informed she is the subject of an investigation.
29 July Devlin attends Belfast Pride wearing a t-shirt which says, in large block capitals: “TRANS INCLUSIVE FEMINIST”. Morrison goes off sick and starts a grievance process against Mark Cousins.
Jan 2024 Morrison starts a discrimination case (and crowdfunder) against her employer.
5 June JK Rowling donates to Morrison’s crowdfunder.
26 November Morrison resigns from the BFF and adds a claim of constructive dismissal.
A reminder the events in this timeline are “vigorously disputed” by the Respondent.
Because of its incredible drama, the Recusal Application, which took up all of Day 5 – Friday 14 November – gets its own web-page. To read it here.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed a small or large donation to allow me to report this case and make summaries like the one above available free at the point of consumption. If you would like to get a newsletter after each day’s tribunal hearing over the rest of the next week (and going forward in perpetuity), a small, one-off donation will see you added automatically to the mailing list. Join us!
Thanks,
Nick.
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