On 3 February, Scottish nurse Sandie Peggie began her testimony in a high-profile case against NHS Fife, after she was suspended after complaining about sharing a changing room with a trans woman, Dr Beth Upton.
She claimed that she felt intimidated and embarrassed by Dr Upton using the changing room that aligned with her gender, despite Dr Upton having the right to do so.
During an incident on Christmas Eve in 2023, the two reportedly “exchanged words”, with Dr Upton then reaching out to NHS Fife for support.
Peggie was subsequently suspended from January 2024 until April 2024, going on to take NHS Fife and Dr Upton to an employment tribunal, claiming that she was harassed.
NHS Fife reportedly rejected Peggie’s harassment claim, adding that her decision to take legal action and name Dr Upton as “both unnecessary and vexatious.”
Normally, local employment tribunals don’t make headlines in the Telegraph, the Times, GB News, the Daily Mail and the Scottish Sun, however this particular tribunal is being seen by many anti-trans activists as a symbolic battle in their war against so-called “gender ideology.”
“Painful and distressing”
Over the last two months, anti-trans X accounts have posted hundreds of times in support of Peggie. Some dehumanise Dr Beth Upton and refer to her as a “thing”, others describe her as “mentally unwell.” All of the tweets misgender her, which Peggie will also be permitted to do during the tribunal after an employment judge ruled that she is allowed to do so throughout the legal proceedings.
Judge Sandy Kemp said that misgendering does not constitute harassment, The Telegraph reported, despite the fact that Kemp also acknowledged that misgendering Dr Upton could prove “painful and distressing.”
NHS Fife and Dr Upton initially requested that the case be heard in private; that move was opposed by Peggie and gender-critical campaign groups including Sex Matters, who wrote on their website that they “intervened”.
The bid for privacy was rejected by Judge Antoine Tinnio, who ordered that the tribunal be held in public.
The public nature of the tribunal is essential to the agenda of those who want to, in the words of NHS Fife spokesperson Jane Russell at the preliminary hearing, “(conduct) this case (as) a form of activism, that in my submission, is contributing to a climate of hostility and hatred towards trans people,” adding: “It shouldn’t be allowed.”
What is Sex Matters?
Sandie Peggie is being represented in the tribunal by Naomi Cunningham. Cunningham is the chair of gender-critical group Sex Matters. She is acting for Peggie in a “private capacity” as a barrister, according to a post on the Sex Matters website.
“Gender critical” is the preferred term of campaigners who are what other people might call “transphobic” – in that they deny trans people’s lived truth (“trans women are men”), oppose trans people’s rights (by campaigning against reforms to gender recognition laws or launching legal cases against trans-inclusive legislation. They wish, like Republicans in the US, to “protect women and children” by banning gender-affirming healthcare for young trans people and prohibiting trans women and girls from playing women’s sports.
Sex Matters was founded by Rebecca Bull, Naomi Cunningham, Emma Hilton and Maya Forstater. Forstater is the organisation’s CEO, and a prominent gender-critical activist in the UK.
A few years ago, Forstater was at the centre of a high-profile legal battle to have so-called “gender critical” views protected under equalities law. She claimed she was discriminated against because of these views when her contract was not renewed by the Center for Global Development (CGD), where she worked as a contractor
In October 2018, staff members at the Center for Global Development complained to management about Forstater’s tweets, and an investigation was started. Her response was: “I have been told that it is offensive to say ‘transwomen are men’ or that woman means ‘adult human female’. However, since these statements are true I will continue to say them.”
Her case became an anti-trans cause célèbre, and she won the support of many prominent gender-critical figures, including JK Rowling who tweeted in support of Forstater in 2019. “Dress however you please,” she wrote. “Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya”
In June 2021, the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) found Forstater’s views did fall under the protected characteristic of “religion or belief” in the Equality Act 2010.
Sex Matters states that its mission is to “promote clarity about sex in law, policy and language in order to protect everybody’s rights”, and that it “believes that ideas and behaviours promoted in the name of gender ideology are misguided and harmful.”
Sex Matters recently registered as a “human rights charity” in the UK. The “principles” section on its website states: “Reality: There are two sexes: female and male. People shouldn’t be afraid to say this.”
In February 2024, the group issued a statement after their Director of Advocacy, Helen Joyce, was seen reading pornographic Harry Potter fan fiction on a train.
The organisation confirmed in a press statement later shared with PinkNews that Joyce had indeed been reading explicit fan fiction based on JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series of books, giving the explanation that it had been for research purposes.
Sandie Peggie tribunal latest
At the time of writing, the tribunal is still in progress. On 4 February, according to the BBC, it heard that Ms Peggie had compared the doctor’s decision to use the women’s changing room in Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, to controversy around “men being in women’s prisons.”
It was determined that she was referring to the case of Isla Bryson, a transgender rapist who was initially remanded to a women’s prison.
During her second day of evidence, Ms Peggie claimed she was previously unaware that the Bryson case involved a rapist, and said: “I never compared Beth to being a rapist.”
Jane Russell KC, who is representing Dr Beth Upton and NHS Fife, suggested that the comment fed into a narrative that all trans women were predators.
It’s also alleged that Peggie’s “dislike” of Dr Beth Upton led to a lapse in patient care.
Dr Beth Upton claims that Ms Peggie left a patient, who was in a serious condition, when the doctor appeared in the cubicle. “Your dislike of Dr Upton was so strong that you refused to work with her to the disadvantage of patients,” said Russell.
When contacted by PinkNews for comment, NHS Fife responded: “NHS Fife considers it inappropriate to comment ahead of or during the employment tribunal. It is important to recognise that at the heart of this case are two employees, who should be treated with kindness and respect. As an organisation, NHS Fife remains committed to upholding its duty of care to all employees.”
The tribunal, which is expected to last 10 days, continues.
