The Women’s Institute will continue to “celebrate” the lives of the transgender women enriching its membership, the head of the organisation said on Tuesday, following reports that it was facing a bid to overturn inclusive policy.
Melissa Green, CEO of the the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI), said the organisation did not want to enter into a “toxic and divisive” row that sought to sow discord among women, but instead foster sensible discourse and reflect the lives of all its members – including those that are transgender.
“Being part of the WI is about the experience of being a woman, and that is a combination of both biology and lived experience,” she said in an interview with the Guardian. “For us, transgender women are women and we want to share and celebrate their experience with them. I know from speaking to so many of our members that they feel that we are enriched by that, that we learn something about being a woman through the eyes of transgender women.”
Green downplayed reports that the WI is facing a revolt from an internal group which is pushing for it to overturn a policy – in place since the 70s and made official in 2015 – which allows transgender members to join the organisation, saying the majority of members were supportive of its stance.
The Women’s Institute Declaration group – which states that the WI’s inclusivity policy is “damaging the WI’s reputation and ability to campaign on women’s issues” – is calling for a moratorium on transgender women joining the WI and says it should “focus on women as a biological sex class, rather than as an individual expression of gender”.
Green said the organisation had no plans to review the policy. “We’re not an organisation that sort of stuck in one place – we’re constantly evolving and reviewing opposition and making sure we’re relevant to women in the 21st century,” she said. “So there are no plans to review this policy – which is not new – because we’ve received no communication suggesting that that’s what our members want.”
Green said the WI was populated by “well-informed, strong minded women who debate the big issues of the day” and would not stifle debate.
“We’ve got a very strong democratic process,” she said. “When we have an issue, we talk about it and we have a process. We don’t let ourselves get caught up in this kind of external panic around things because our members already have a route to share their views and their thoughts with us.”
On Tuesday former Conservative leader William Hague supported the WI’s position when questioned about the topic on Times Radio, saying: “[T]here are transgender people, they have changed their gender. This is part of our society now […] And I think large national organisations like the WI have to get over that and get used to that, and welcome new people.”
But Green said the WI had only received two direct emails about the row on Tuesday, one from a non-member to express disgust and one from a member who had urged the organisation’s leaders not to change the inclusive stance of “our wonderful progressive community”.
The WI – the largest voluntary women’s organisation in the UK – featured trans woman Petra Wenham and her wife, Loraine, on the cover of its magazine in 2021.
“We’ve had an incredible outpouring of support for Petra, and for our policy position so we feel confident that it’s a strong position,” said Green. “I know from speaking to many transgender women who are members of ours that they feel overwhelmed by the love, support and fellowship they’re offered by WI members through what is often a very difficult journey for them.”
The WI – despite its reputation as a bastion of Middle England – has a long history of taking progressive, and sometimes controversial, stances. It campaigned on venereal disease in 1922, calling for full, free family planning in 1972, and demanding the prohibition of female genital mutilation in 1983.
“We’ve not been afraid to tackle things that cause us or other people discomfort in an effort to inform and educate and move society forward,” said Green.
“Since 1915 we’ve been a group of well-informed, strong-minded women who debate the big things of the day and this just happens to be one of them. We’re not always going to agree on everything. I don’t know why anybody would expect us to.”
