Tribunal told woman's comments not seen as transphobic

Sara Morrison

The director of Belfast Film Festival (BFF) has told an employment tribunal that she did not view remarks made by a former staff member at a women's rights event as "transphobic".

Michele Devlin described how she put her head in her hands when she first watched video footage of Sara Morrison delivering a speech at a Let Women Speak event in 2023.

She said she was "shocked" by the footage and that her main concern was about the potential "reputational damage" it could cause to the BFF, as well as "damage to partnerships".

Ms Morrison, who was an inclusion and audience development coordinator for the BFF at the time, believes that people cannot change their biological sex.

'Head in my hands'

She made comments at the rally about keeping men out of women's spaces and criticised a number of local women's organisations.

Her participation led to complaints by the LGBTQ community to the BFF, which later launched an investigation.

Ms Morrison went off work citing stress, before finally resigning.

She claims in her case, which has received funding from the author JK Rowling, that she was unlawfully discriminated against by the organisation over her beliefs on sex and gender.

The BFF rejects this, as well as her claim of constructive dismissal.

The tribunal heard it was Ms Morrison's case that the investigation instigated by the BFF was sparked by allegations of transphobia by the LGBTQ community.

During cross-examination, a barrister representing Ms Morrison asked the BFF director if she considered the speech to be transphobic - to which Ms Devlin replied: "There doesn't seem to be any transphobic statements in it."

She said she was shocked that Ms Morrison was critical of a number of organisations that the BFF worked with in the speech.

"I sat on my desk and I put my head in my hands," she said.

"A number of our client organisations were mentioned - people we had worked with, continued to work with, and would work with in the future."

'Vivacious characters'

Separately, the tribunal heard that Ms Devlin had referred to Ms Morrison in communication with a colleague as "Sarah Palin" - the former US Republican politician.

She said the name was intended as a joke during a time of stress and that it was based on both individuals' "vivacious" characters.

Ms Morrison's barrister put it to Ms Devlin that the comparison to Sarah Palin was due to the politician's perceived "right-wing" views, and that women who shared Ms Morrison's beliefs were "very widely smeared as right-wing, part of the extreme right".

Ms Devlin denied that, saying not all women who shared Ms Morrison's beliefs were viewed that way.

She said: "I was making a private joke with a friend at a time of stress."

She said comparing Ms Morrison to Sarah Palin was based on the former's "ebullient" and "blustery" personality.

"The joke is that Sarah Palin is a loud, vivacious character," Ms Devlin said.

"Sara Morrison is also a loud, vivacious character."

Sarah Palin campaigned as running mate to Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain in the 2008 US presidential election.

Ms Devlin said she had previously shared the joke comparing Ms Palin to Ms Morrison with the latter herself in the BFF office.

The tribunal continues.