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Siân Berry on transphobia in the Green Party: ‘We have a problem to solve’
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“I’ve been really stuck for the past month,” Siân Berry told me from her flat in Tufnell Park, north London.

In May, the Green Party co-leader campaigned to be mayor of London on the promise of making the city the most trans-inclusive on earth. But this month, she was unable to stop someone who has called for the restriction of trans rights being appointed as a spokesperson for her own party.

And so, on Wednesday, she announced she would be standing down as co-leader.

“I’m really, really sad to be doing this,” she told openDemocracy. “It makes me really sad that we’ve reached a point where I’ve got this issue of conscience.

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“I’ve always spent all of my leadership speaking about the principle of intersectional solidarity, making sure that we all stand up for each other, and so it’s just really important to me that trans rights are stood up for.”

And, she says, to have someone appointed who is part of “organised campaigning within the Green Party to reduce our commitment to trans rights, I don’t think is compatible with what I promised to Londoners, and with the party’s policies in general, and the party's values.

“In the end, I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t honestly stand by my opinion and beliefs, and stand behind a decision to promote people who are part of that campaigning.

“My conscience cannot agree that we shouldn’t be putting forward a united front on this really, really important issue of our time.”

[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/si%C3%A2n-berry-on-transphobia-in-the-green-party-we-have-a-problem-to-solve/