The civil servant who challenged transgender ideology — and won

Jan 19, 2025 by

by Rosamund Irwin, The Times:

Eleanor Frances sued her department for discrimination when her career ended over her gender-critical views. Only one side of the debate was ever aired, she says.

A civil servant has described how a “huge weight has been lifted off” her shoulders after she won an 18-month legal battle with her former employers over her concerns about their promotion of transgender ideology.

Eleanor Frances, now 39, felt she was forced to leave the job she loved in August 2023 after she repeatedly raised concerns that her corner of Whitehall had been “captured” by transgender ideology contrary to the civil service’s commitment to impartiality.

Last week, she revealed two Whitehall departments had pledged to revise their guidelines so civil servants would no longer be labelled “transphobic” for expressing gender-critical beliefs. They also agreed to pay Frances a settlement of £116,749 plus taxes.

Speaking in the café of the Institution of Civil Engineers in Westminster, she still seems like the consummate Sir Humphrey. She arrives with notes to ensure no details are forgotten. Civil service speak – “directorates”, “stakeholders” – keeps slipping in. She is discreet, meticulous, and private, clamming up on any questions outside the details of her case.

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Read also:  Finally some sense on Whitehall gender policy by Janice Turner, The Times

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