7 hours ago
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One of Labour’s only transgender councillors has resigned from the party, accusing it of “throwing trans people under the bus”.
In a post on X on Friday morning, Dylan Tippetts, who has represented Compton ward on Plymouth city council since 2022, wrote: “I cannot continue to represent a party that does not support my fundamental rights. I cannot as a trans person continue to support the Labour party.”
Tippetts, who was the first Labour councillor to represent the area, will now sit as an independent and confirmed he would not seek re-election.
He said: “The Labour party nationally has thrown transgender people under the bus and has taken us backwards decades. Everyone deserves the right to live peacefully, and the Labour party continues to deny transgender people that basic right.”
Tippett’s resignation comes after senior government figures, including Keir Starmer, welcomed the “clarity” provided by the supreme court’s ruling on biological sex.
The UK supreme court ruled last month that the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 referred only to “a biological woman” and to “biological sex”, with subsequent advice from the equalities watchdog, the Equality and Humans Rights Commission, amounting to a blanket ban on trans people using toilets and other services of the gender they identify as.
Responding to the judgment, which has sent shockwaves through the UK’s transgender community, the prime minister said: “A woman is an adult female, and the court has made that absolutely clear. I actually welcome the judgment because I think it gives real clarity.”
Bridget Phillipson moved to reassure the community. The equalities minister told the Commons: “The ruling of the supreme court was clear about the importance of biological sex, but I would not want any trans person … anywhere across the country to be fearful.”
Subsequently, the Guardian reported that 14 national LGBTQ+ charities had written to Starmer seeking an urgent meeting to discuss what they described as “a genuine crisis for the rights, dignity and inclusion of trans people in the UK”.
On Thursday a cross-party committee of MPs wrote to the EHRC seeking assurances that its guidance on how organisations interpreted the ruling did not ignore the needs of transgender people.
A spokesperson for Plymouth Labour Group said: “We are very disappointed that Cllr Tippetts has taken the decision to resign from the Labour party after he was informed on Thursday evening that he was being replaced as chair of the taxi licensing committee.
“The residents of Compton ward deserve three committed councillors so we hope Cllr Tippetts will work hard to represent them during his final year in office.”
Tippetts has been approached for comment.
