A parish councillor and magistrate has been reprimanded for sending a ‘transphobic’ video to colleagues after campaigning to protect single-sex spaces.
Jane Taylor, a former police chief inspector and independent councillor in Teignbridge, Devon, was found to have shared the video on a parish council WhatsApp group without ‘properly considering’ its impact.
A complaint led to an investigation by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO), which criticised Mrs Taylor’s ‘unapologetic’ defence of the video, which it ruled contained transphobic content by a ‘third party’.
Mrs Taylor said she had only shared the video ‘at the request of other councillors’ and argued it was about the protection of same-sex spaces rather than ‘transgender issues’.
She added she is involved in campaigning for same-sex spaces in her role as a councillor, and maintained that irrespective of the views of the maker of the video, her own remained not discriminatory.
The councillor further claimed the complaint had been ‘politically motivated’ and intended to ‘suppress debate’.
But the JCIO disagreed and ruled she had ‘associated herself with views’ in the video which ‘may be considered transphobic’.
A committee found this cast doubt on Mrs Taylor’s ‘integrity and impartiality’ as a magistrate.
Jane Taylor, a former police chief inspector and independent councillor in Teignbridge, Devon, was found to have shared the video on a parish council WhatsApp group
A complaint led to an investigation by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO), which criticised Mrs Taylor’s ‘unapologetic’ defence of the video, which it ruled contained transphobic content by a ‘third party’
They also said the councillor shared the clip ‘without properly considering its impact despite being aware of the video’s content, and then unapologetically defended sharing the video, which demonstrated a lack of due diligence and insight.’
Mrs Taylor was issued with a reprimand, which is the most serious disciplinary measure short of removal from the position of magistrate.
The JCIO said: ‘Mr Justice Keehan, on behalf of the Lady Chief Justice [Baroness Carr] and with the Lord Chancellor’s [Shabana Mahmood’s] agreement, has issued Mrs Jane Taylor JP of the South and West Devon Bench with a reprimand for misconduct.’
Mrs Taylor has previously campaigned for single-sex spaces to exclude the transgender community and criticised Teignbridge Council for failing to act following the Supreme Court’s ruling on gender earlier this year.
She has called on the council to review its equality and diversity policy and claims it it effectively ‘denying’ women access to single-sex spaces.
Teignbridge Council hired a barrister to advise on the situation following the court ruling.
Their report found it was acting lawfully in line with the judgment and no further review into council policy was necessary.
Before becoming a councillor, Mrs Taylor served for three decades with Devon and Cornwall Constabulary.