A comedy club in Edinburgh has been forced to cancel an upcoming event that featured a politician with a history of speaking out against transgender people after their staff refused to work.
Last month comedian Bethany Black, who is transgender, announced she was pulling a date from her UK tour. Black said she felt she could not ethically play at The Stand Comedy Club in Glasgow, because of the club, which has venues in several cities, was hosting an evening with Scottish MP Joanna Cherry.
Cherry is a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and previously served as the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice in Westminster.
The MP, who is a lesbian, has been opposed to proposed gender recognition reforms in Scotland. Cherry has denied her views are transphobic and says she approaches the debate from a feminist perspective.
Initially the venue’s management stressed they were not producing the event, merely hosting it.
“As a company we oppose any form of discrimination, including against people on the basis of their gender identity.” the club’s management said.
“The Stand does not endorse or support the views expressed by any participant in this series and it is wrong for others to imply that we do.
“Whilst we may disagree with a particular viewpoint, we believe that people should have the right to express views that others might find controversial or strongly disagree with.”
The venue has now been forced to announce that they can no longer host the event because so many of their staff have refused to work.
“Following extensive discussions with our staff it has become clear that a number of The Stand’s key operational staff, including venue management and box office personnel, are unwilling to work on this event.” the venue said in an updated statement.
“We will not compel our staff to work on this event and so have concluded that the event is unable to proceed on a properly staffed, safe and legally compliant basis.”
Cherry has responded to the decision saying she has been “no-platformed” by the venue, accusing the venue of discrimination.
“It should not be possible for venues or their staff to no-platform lesbians or feminists who believe that sex is an immutable biological fact just because of our sexuality or our beliefs,” she said. “That sort of discrimination is unlawful and I’m sure most people would agree it’s not acceptable.”
The politician also suggested that staff at the venue had refused to work because they were concerned about protesters who might appear at the event.
The politician has found support from anti-transgender author J.K Rowling. The Harry Potter author said the move to cancel the event was akin to “modern McCarthyism”.
OIP Staff
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