Féile an Phobail has withdrawn a booking for a talk by Women's Rights Network Northern Ireland and Sex Matters, saying it was not informed the session would promote campaigns opposing transgender rights. WRN NI said it was "shocked" and claimed the decision followed an organised online campaign that included abusive rhetoric. Sex Matters founder Maya Forstater criticised the withdrawal and urged the festival to reinstate the booking. The dispute highlights tensions between free-speech debate and protection for marginalised communities.
Féile an Phobail Withdraws WRN NI Talk Over Trans Rights Concerns — Organisers And Speakers Respond
The event was due to be held in early August during Féile an Phobail [BBC]
An organisation has said it was "shocked" after Féile an Phobail withdrew a booking for a talk organised by Women's Rights Network Northern Ireland (WRN NI) and Sex Matters. The session, titled Respect, Rights and Reality, had been scheduled for 4 August during the West Belfast festival which runs from 25 July to 9 August.
Festival Statement
Féile an Phobail, also known as the West Belfast Festival and one of Ireland's largest community arts festivals, said it had informed WRN NI that it was withdrawing the event. Posting on social media, the festival said it was not aware at the time of the original submission that the session would be used to promote campaigns opposing rights for the transgender community.
"Féile an Phobail takes pride in standing up for those who are marginalised and attacked. We fully support the right of the transgender community to be treated with equality and respect," the festival said, adding that on that basis it had withdrawn the booking.
Organisers' Response
WRN NI said it had made clear the session was intended as a "discussion on women's sex-based rights" and described the decision as a silencing of women's voices. The group said the withdrawal followed what it called an organised online campaign against the event that included "misogynistic, abusive and, in our view, threatening rhetoric" directed at women associated with it.
Speakers And Context
The event was organised in partnership with Sex Matters, a group founded by Maya Forstater. Forstater previously lost a job after asserting that people cannot change their biological sex and later received compensation after an employment tribunal found she experienced "direct discrimination" related to her beliefs.
Forstater criticised Féile an Phobail's decision as discriminatory and urged organisers to reinstate the booking and apologise, saying the cancellation was "as unacceptable as cancelling someone for their religious or non-religious beliefs."
Wider Issues
The dispute touches on wider, sometimes contentious debates about free speech, women's sex-based rights and protections for transgender people. Féile's statement emphasises the festival's support for transgender equality, while WRN NI questioned whether the festival's commitment to ideas and debate is applied consistently.
The festival runs from 25 July to 9 August; the withdrawn session had been scheduled for 4 August.
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