statement written by Ali Wilkin, Harmony Party UK interim media officer / edited by the Harmony Party Media Working Group

On Wednesday 30th September, we had planned to hold a Policy Moot via video call on housing, as we start the work on wishlisting policies for our first manifesto.

Unfortunately, we were unable to hold our open meeting, as the video call was flooded with bots that were playing videos – a mixture of transphobic content and obvious deliberate “noisemaking” (crinkling bags and suchlike); we can only conclude that this was TERFs and/or “Gender Critical” identifying feminists making their displeasure of our trans-inclusive policies known.

We unreservedly support self ID (as part of a general commitment to self-determination), and Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists – and those feminists identifying as “Gender Critical” – have objected to this, and to our decision to refer to those radical feminists who are trans exclusionary as TERFs. We understand that this is controversial, but our commitment to being suffering focused in our approach means that the oppressed must be able to name their oppressors, and TERFs and “GC” identifying feminists work exclusively to remove rights from trans people.

We understand that our approach will attract criticism. But we will not apologise for believing it important – now more than ever – to ensure our ethics and our principles are never compromised, and are actively pursued, every day. To that end, it is quite likely that later our internal disciplinary body – the Committee for Resolutions – will re-examine these choices.

Whilst we had wanted to make the first Policy Moot call as open as possible, we must now introduce simple safety measures so that everyone who participates is not put in any danger. This is disappointing, but when we live under increasingly authoritarian rule, perhaps it is unsurprising that echoes of the regime’s disrespect for democracy are felt throughout civil discourse.

We are a new Party, just 3 months old, so we take the recent attention as a hopeful sign that our radically different, suffering-focused approach is being heard loud and clear, and that our genuinely communal voice is reaching those whose cause we share, and support, every day.