The Stand concedes – Joanna Cherry’s show will go ahead
The management of The Stand Comedy Club have backed down from their earlier decision and will allow the show In Conversation with Joanna Cherry, KC, MP, to go ahead at the New Town Theatre this August.
The club had previously said that due to key personnel not wishing to staff the event they could not do so safely.
The Edinburgh South West MP advised the club that their actions were unlawful discrimination against her.
Today in a statement the club announced a U-turn saying they had now taken legal advice. They issued an apology to Ms Cherry for the unlawful discrimination against her. The club will also donate the proceeds from the event to a charity.
Ms Cherry said: “This is a very welcome move by the Stand and I look forward to taking part in the show. I hope that the Stand’s full & frank acceptance that to discriminate against me on account of the philosophical beliefs which I hold as a lesbian and a feminist was unlawful will benefit other women and men by discouraging others from similar discrimination in the future. The detailed legal opinion I received remains published on my website and I hope it will be of benefit to others and will prevent institutions from undertaking this kind of unlawful discrimination in future.”
She said previously that she would take any legal action necessary to defend her rights. She said last week: “I have received the opinion of the eminent and leading human rights advocate, Aidan O’Neill KC who considers that The Stand have acted unlawfully. My solicitor David McKie of Levy & McRae agrees with that view and has today written to The Stand on my behalf. Given the very public statements which have been made about me by The Stand and in the press and on social media, some of which have been threatening and/or abusive, I have decided to release both my solicitor’s letter and the opinion of senior counsel.
“The actions of the Stand and all that has followed thereon are symptomatic of a wider problem in our society. I am very concerned that those who hold perfectly legitimate views on a variety of issues, including women like me are regularly being misrepresented, de-platformed and, in some cases, facing damage to or the loss of our livelihoods. This is often accompanied by online abuse and threats. The debate on gender self-identification is a very important one which must be allowed to take place, but I am a woman of many parts who was engaged to talk about my political life in general and I see the cancelling of my one-hour event as the thin end of the wedge.”
