Scottish Government in trans row taken to Labor Court

Kenny McBride is trying to crowdfund £85,000 to pay for his legal fees.

The Scottish Government said it could not comment but was “firmly committed to being a leading global diverse employer”.

Mr McBride says his aim is to “force the Scottish Government to end their hostility towards gender-sensitive workers and get compensation for the loss of my job”.

In a post on the Wings Over Scotland blog, he said he took a temporary job at Transport Scotland last June and then signed up for training from the internal LGBTI+ network.

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He says at one event officials were encouraged to read Trans Language Primer, which claims biological sex is a “falsehood” invented by doctors to “enhance white supremacy and gender oppression.” .

The introduction also states that women who are critical of gender stereotypes are part of a “trans hate group” and have an “unhealthy fascination with trans children.”

It also describes women who resist self-identification as FARTS – feminism appropriating ridiculous transphobes – and TERFS – trans exclusionary radical feminists.

Mr McBride, who was employed through a temp agency, complained and was told the Scottish Government accepted that the introduction was not suitable material and the link had been removed.

However, he said the government should have gone further and told those who received the primer to ignore it.

He then escalated his complaint to his temp agency, “citing not only what happened at the two training sessions, but also the company’s urging to add pronouns to our email signatures and other articles [Scottish Government intranet] Saltire, who seemed to demand ‘inclusion’ at all costs, even if that meant excluding gender critical people.”

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In December last year, Mr McBride posted on the Scottish Government’s internal social network about a new, new anti-gender affinity network for civil servants, the Sex Equality and Equity Network (SEEN).

He said it was not open to workers in the decentralized administrations and asked if anyone knew anything similar in Scotland

The post drew criticism from other officials.

Mr McBride says he considered several of the comments made “as harassment because of my gender biased beliefs and I have made a complaint about that”.

He says he “also emailed some of those who responded, asking them to clarify their positions.”

Later that afternoon, he received a phone call from his temp agency to say that his assignment had been terminated because of the “harassing” emails sent to co-workers.

Mr McBride now plans to take the Scottish Government, Transport Scotland and the temp agency to an employment tribunal.

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“Not only am I seeking compensation for losing my job, but more importantly, to compel the Scottish Government to change the way they operate and create a more honest, respectful and tolerant environment for those of us who have to adapt to the reality of Believe sex and who believe sex is important.”

Mr McBride was referring to Maya Forstater, a researcher who won her labor court after losing her job at a think tank for tweeting that transgender women could not change their biological sex.

She won her lawsuit that she was unfairly discriminated against because of her gender biased beliefs.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We do not comment on pending court cases. The Scottish Government has a strong commitment to equality and inclusion and aims to be a leading global diverse employer.”