A Glasgow councillor has been cleared after she said Nazis had attended a gender-critical rally held by Let Women Speak in George Square.
Bailie Elaine Gallagher, Glasgow’s first trans councillor — who was criticised for "disrespectful" language — sparked 15 complaints to the Ethical Standards Commissioner.
Speaking during a full council meeting in June last year, Bailie Gallagher made reference to “would-be fascists”. She also said accusations made against LGBT+ people lead to threats of violence, and the language used had been described as “genocidal”.
The Green group councillor added: “When an anti-trans speaker had a rally in George Square this year (2023), it was attended by Nazis.”
Her speech was in support of a motion, which passed unanimously, on Pride month. It saw the council agree to “set dates where appropriate flags are flown to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community”.
Complainants believed the councillor’s comments were “disrespectful, and discourteous” and “could amount to bullying or harassment”. The commissioner, Ian Bruce, referred the case to the Standards Commission, which held a hearing in Glasgow today.
A three-person panel found Bailie Gallagher had “on the face of it, breached” the code, which requires councillors to treat others with courtesy and respect. However, it decided she was “entitled to enhanced protection of freedom of expression, as a politician commenting on a matter of public interest”.
The panel concluded “a restriction on this right could not be justified in the circumstances of the case and, therefore, that a formal finding of a breach could not be made”.
Dr Lezley Stewart, who chaired the panel, said: “The Standards Commission, and indeed the public, expect politicians, including local councillors, to lead by example and be respectful at all times.
“This includes refraining from using language that inflames what is already an extremely polarised and toxic debate.
“The panel noted that a failure to do so only serves to lower standards of public discourse and encourage the exchange of abuse, rather than reasoned and respectful debate.”
The rally in February last year was held by Let Women Speak — which describes itself as a “global movement which creates space for women to centre women”. It was founded by Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker.
The Standards Commission panel accepted that remarks on “would-be fascists” and “genocidal” language related to concerns about anti-trans sentiment in general rather than the rally or its attendees.
It added that Bailie Gallagher, as an elected representative, was expected to express her views and was “entitled to do so in a forthright and even robust manner”. Members accepted as a trans-woman, she “faces discrimination and that her speech had been made in this context”.
However, the panel considered the use of the term "Nazi" as “a descriptor for those who attended the rally on women’s rights was objectively disrespectful, given a common understanding of Nazis is that they were an extreme far right group who committed genocide and whose extremist political ideology was based on ideas of racial, social and biological purity”.
It added it would have been “deeply offensive and shocking to attendees, especially any identifiable from footage” available online.
Panel members were “not satisfied” that evidence provided to suggest “an individual who may have attended the rally had previously been barred from a UK political party for questioning the Holocaust” was “reliable”. They noted the “article’s suggestion in this regard appeared to emanate solely from an activist’s Twitter thread”.
However, they acknowledged there was “also evidence, from the same source, that suggested attendees at previous rallies organised by the same individual in Newcastle and Melbourne had referred to a right-wing conspiracy and made Nazi salutes respectively”.
Dr Stewart said: “The panel found that, in her speech, Cllr Gallagher stated the some of those attending a rally in respect of women’s rights were Nazis and, as such, inferred that they had extreme far right views and subscribed to an ideology based on ideas of racial, social and biological purity.”
But the hearing panel believed Bailie Gallagher’s comments were a “value judgement”. It found there was “a sufficient factual basis for the respondent’s contention that the Glasgow rally had been ‘attended by Nazis’, even if this was entirely inaccurate”.
It reached this conclusion given the “apparently reliable evidence to the effect that similar rallies organised by the same person in other cities had been attended by individuals who had displayed clear support of the Nazis or their ideology”.
Members also considered how open to interpretation the term "Nazi" can be and “how it is commonly used to describe anyone with what are perceived as opposing or extreme views”.
Caitlin Bell, a solicitor representing Bailie Gallagher, said there was “important context to Cllr Gallagher’s speech”.
She added: “Although she has given this speech in her capacity as an elected official, I do think it is important to bear in mind that she is a transgender woman and she experiences a lot of discrimination and has various Twitter threats that are essentially telling her that she shouldn’t exist as a trans woman.”
