Aimee Challenor

Aimee Challenor
Born (1997-10-01) 1 October 1997
Coventry, United Kingdom
Education Open University
Organization Stonewall
Political party Green Party (2014–2018)
Liberal Democrats (2018–)
Movement Transgender rights
Website http://www.aimeechallenor.uk

Aimee Challenor is a British politician and transgender activist and former spokesperson for the Green Party of England and Wales. In 2017, she stood for election in Coventry South, receiving 1.3% of the votes. In 2018, her father, who had been serving as her election agent, was convicted and jailed for sexual offences against a child, leading to Challenor's suspension from the party during an investigation. She later resigned.

Personal life

Although assigned male at birth, Challenor says she realised she was a girl around the age of 10, but her parents were unaware of the existence of trans people.[1] Challenor and her two siblings were taken into care in 2013.[2][3] Challenor came out as trans in 2014; she tells of experiencing anxiety and depression as well as online harassment.[4]

As a child, Challenor was diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder.[5] She attended Henley College Coventry, where she was the college's NUS LGBT officer.[6][7] Challenor is studying for a B.A. in philosophy, politics and economics at the Open University.[8]

Political career

Challenor joined the Green Party of England and Wales in November 2014. She was the chair of LGBTIQA+ Greens between 2015 and 2017.[9] Challenor became the party's equality spokesperson in 2016.[8] According to the Green Party, Challenor was the only trans spokesperson for a UK political party.[10]

In 2017, Challenor was the Green candidate for Coventry South. She received 1.3% of the vote share, with 604 votes.[11] Challenor stood for Coventry City Council elections as a member of the Green Party in February 2016[12] and May 2016.[13] She stood in a May 2018 local election.[14] She was not elected.

Deputy leadership campaign and father's arrest

Challenor stood in the summer 2018 election to be deputy leader of the Green Party.

In August 2018, Challenor's father David Challenor was sentenced to 22 years in prison for raping and torturing a 10-year-old girl in the attic of the home shared by him, Aimee and Tina Challenor. Challenor's father was reported to the police in 2015 and charged in November 2016. Following this, Challenor chose her father as her election agent for the 2017 general election and also the 2018 council elections. After her father's sentencing, Challenor – who insists she did not know the allegations against her father in full – stood down from the Green Party's deputy leadership election.[14][2][3][15] She was consequently suspended from the party on a no-fault basis, and the party launched an inquest into possible safeguarding failures as David was allowed to act as Aimee's election agent after having been charged.[16]

In September 2018, Challenor resigned from the Green Party citing transphobia.[17] She went on to join the Liberal Democrats.[18]

LGBT activism

In 2015, Challenor was the LGBTQ Officer for Henley College Coventry; she protested the college's censoring of websites such as Birmingham Pride, which were considered "Gay or Lesbian or Bisexual Interest" by the college web blocker.[6][7] Challenor was an organiser of Coventry Pride in 2016 and 2017.[19][20]

After a Transport for London (TfL) helpline employee told Challenor that she "didn't sound like a Miss", she successfully campaigned to get TfL to investigate the incident and to use gender-neutral language in announcements, avoiding phrases such as "ladies and gentlemen".[21][22]

In May 2018, the BBC published an article that quoted writer Miranda Yardley describing Challenor as a "man". Challenor said that the BBC did not contact her about the article before its publication, though following readers' complaints she was asked to comment, and her response was added to the article.[23][24]

Challenor is a member of Stonewall's Trans Advisory Group.[25]

References

  1. ↑ Andalo, Debbie (11 May 2017). "Growing up transgender: 'I wish I could have come out younger'". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 Gilligan, Andrew (26 August 2018). "Aimee Challenor: rising Green Party star quits deputy race over rapist father". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 Walker, Peter (27 August 2018). "Greens rising star quits deputy leader race after father jailed for rape". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  4. ↑ Woods, Lisa (19 July 2017). "Behind the rainbows: speaking to Aimee Challenor about mental health within the LGBTIQA+ community". Break Forth. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  5. ↑ Ridley, Louise (4 July 2018). "These 9 People's Stories Of Equality Show Birmingham At Its Best". HuffPost. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  6. 1 2 Cooney, Rebecca (19 January 2015). "Internet block on LGBT websites 'sends out wrong message'". FE Week. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  7. 1 2 Payton, Naith (13 January 2015). "College blocks students from accessing LGBT sites". PinkNews. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  8. 1 2 Packham, Alfie (6 June 2018). "Aimee Challenor: 'Yes, I'm trans, but I'm a Green politician and proud of it'". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  9. ↑ "LGBTIQA+ Greens | Aimee Challenor". Green Party of England and Wales. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  10. ↑ Forrester, Kate (28 April 2017). "Greens Take Aim At Lib Dems With LGBT Manifesto Launch In Church". HuffPost. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  11. ↑ "Coventry South parliamentary constituency - Election 2017". BBC. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  12. ↑ "Lower Stoke by-election 11 February 2016". Coventry City Council. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  13. ↑ "Coventry City Council (local) election results - 5 May 2016". Coventry City Council. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  14. 1 2 Smith, Adam (26 August 2018). "Green politician pulls out of deputy leadership race over child rapist father". Metro. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  15. ↑ Khan, Shehab (27 August 2018). "Greens deputy leadership candidate quits election race after father jailed for raping a child". The Independent. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  16. ↑ Walker, Peter (31 August 2018). "Green party launches inquiry as it suspends Aimee Challenor". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  17. ↑ "Activist quits Greens over 'transphobia'". BBC News. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  18. ↑ Challenor, Aimee. "Aimee Challenor on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  19. ↑ Hartley, Laura (18 June 2016). "Hundreds gather for Coventry Pride". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  20. ↑ "Coventry Pride's LGBT Community Plans and Progress". iCov. 2017-11-16. Retrieved 2018-08-29.
  21. ↑ Pasha-Robinson, Lucy (8 December 2016). "Sadiq Khan looks to scrap gender specific announcements on London trains and buses". The Independent. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  22. ↑ Gillett, Francesca (12 July 2017). "TfL scraps 'ladies and gentlemen' announcements in bid to be more gender-neutral". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  23. ↑ "Twitter 'bans women against trans ideology', say feminists". BBC. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  24. ↑ Challenor, Aimee (30 May 2018). "It's hard tackling transphobia when the BBC propagate it". i. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  25. ↑ "Trans Advisory Group". Stonewall. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.