Skip to content

Conservatives for Women vs. transgender people

Conservatives for Women (CfW) is a British anti-transgender group incorporated in July 2022.

They state that “No matter how a man presents himself, what he wears, what he believes about himself, or what changes he may make to his body through surgery or medical treatment, a man remains a man. A man cannot become a woman. (Nor can a woman become a man).”

Background

In November 2019, Karen Varley created a Twitter account and an iPetition that stated “We MUST have clear guidance issued to public and private bodies to tell them that ALL men, whatever their ‘identity’, can and should be be excluded from spaces where females would expect privacy from the opposite sex.” It received about 1,300 signatures.

Anti-trans activism

In November 2020, Conservatives for Women submitted evidence in the UK Parliament hearings on reform of the Gender Recognition Act.

Conservatives for Women was founded in December 2020, and the website went live soon after. Their first blog post was in January 2021. They published a declaration that states in part:

  • “Women have the right to maintain their sex-based protections, as set out in the Equality Act 2010. These include female-only spaces such as changing rooms, hospital wards, sanitary and sleeping accommodation, refuges, hostels and prisons.”
  • “Women have the right to refuse consent to admit males in single sex spaces or to allow males to deliver intimate services to females, such as washing, dressing or counselling.”
  • “Women and girls have the right to participate in single-sex sports, to ensure fairness and safety at all levels of competition.”
  • “If any person can legally be considered the opposite sex then our rights as women and girls can no longer be defended.”

In February 2021, Conservatives for Women submitted evidence to Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee, arguing that the Government Equalities Office (GEO) must split its responsibilities so the brief covering women’s rights operates completely independently from the transgender and queer brief.

In July 2024, Karen Varley retired, and the group largely went dormant. Of the ~70 blog posts, only 3 were published since Varley left.

In 2026, Amnesty International UK published reports about the anti-rights movement in the UK and listed Conservatives for Women under the “gender critical” category. On July 14, CfW sent a letter of complaint:

“As a small group of volunteers who fight for women’s rights and child safeguarding, we were more than a little surprised to be included in your list. Surely Amnesty is just as concerned about these issues as we are. Perhaps you could explain how this has happened and given it was clearly an error would you be so kind to retract the report and issue us with an apology forthwith?”

People

The following people are listed as officers:

  • Lynne Vanetta Clark
  • Caroline Ffiske (co-founder)
  • Joanne Marchall
  • Leigh Taylor
  • Jeannette Elizabeth Towey
  • Karen Lesley Varley (founder)

References

Waylen, Georgina (July 8, 2024). Anti-Gender Movements, Right-wing Populism and Democratic Erosion in the UK. The European Consortium for Political Research https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/PaperDetails/72779

Anti-trans coverage

Tribunal Tweets (July 16, 2026). Amnesty International UK: Letters of Challenge. Open Justice with Tribunal Tweets https://tribunaltweets.substack.com/p/amnesty-international-uk-letters

Selected writing by Conservatives for Women

Clarke, Lynne; Ffiske, Caroline; Taylor, Leigh; Towey, Jeannette (July 14, 2026). Letter of complaint to Amnesty International. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HVPRbZExWCQCm5Yx158rlLfllPsC8E9G/view

Ffiske, Caroline (February 2025). Tackling politicisation and transgression in the “Relationship, Sex, and Health Education” School Curriculum. Conservatives for Women https://www.conservativesforwomen.org/school-curriculum

Varley, Karen (July 15, 2024). A Message from Karen Varley, Founder of Conservatives for Women. Conservatives for Women https://www.conservativesforwomen.org/a-message-from-karen-varley-founder-of-conservatives-for-women

Ffiske, Caroline (November 2022). Relationship and Sex Education Guidance in Schools: How we got to here and what to do about it. Conservatives for Women https://www.conservativesforwomen.org/rse-guidance

Conservatives for Women (February 2021). Written evidence submitted by Conservatives for Women [GEO0033]. https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/22886/pdf/

Conservatives for Women (November 2020). Written evidence submitted by Conservatives for Women [GRA0960]. https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/17017/pdf/

Resources

Conservatives for Women (conservativesforwomen.org)

X/Twitter (x.com)

Facebook (facebook.com)

iPetitions (ipetitions.com)

UK Companies House (find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk)