Linzi Smith, the Newcastle United fan given a three-season ban for saying allegedly ‘transphobic’ things on X, e.g. “transwomen aren’t women”, is taking legal action against NUFC and the Premier League with the help of the Free Speech Union. The Telegraph has the story.
A football fan who was banned from attending matches after expressing gender-critical views on social media has begun a crowd-funded legal action against Newcastle United and the Premier League.
Linzi Smith was barred by the football club after a “Stasi” spying investigation into her, which detailed where she lives, works, and even where she walks her dog. It was launched after someone wrote to the club accusing her of being transphobic.
The 34-year-old, who is gay and promotes lesbian, bisexual, and women’s rights, has raised £15,000 through a crowdfunding campaign supported by fellow fans and free speech campaigners.
Lawyers fighting her case have now written to the club and the league demanding compensation and an end to the ban. Ms. Smith is prepared to take her case to court if they refuse to comply.
Her legal team says the Premier League club illegally discriminated against her after she expressed legally-protected beliefs that people cannot change their sex.
Levins Solicitors also say the Premier League and the club had no “lawful basis” for snooping on her when a special unit set up to combat racism compiled an 11-page “target profile” dossier on her.
Ms. Smith told the Telegraph: “I always thought we lived in a society where people could express their opinions freely without fear that it could ruin their life. The actions of Newcastle United and the Premier League have had a hugely detrimental effect on me, and it seems that legal action is the only way to ensure that these powerful organisations understand the law and the right that everyone has to freedom of speech.”
Ms. Smith was accused of being transphobic by a complainant who told the football club that trans people would not feel safe sitting near her, even though her posts on X (formerly Twitter) had no connection to Newcastle United.
As first revealed by the Telegraph, the club responded by asking the Premier League to carry out an investigation into Ms. Smith without her knowledge.
The resulting dossier was handed by Newcastle United to Northumbria Police, who then interviewed Ms. Smith under caution.
Officers took just two hours to tell her that she had not committed an offense, but the club, which had spent months looking into her background, revoked her membership and banned her from games until 2026.
She has said the club and the league “have behaved like the Stasi” and that she feels “violated”.
Ms. Smith, who runs a tea shop with her mother, had posted tweets in which she suggested the trans lobby was homophobic because it wanted to “trans the gay away” and that some transgender people were suffering from mental illness.
She is being helped in her legal action by the Free Speech Union, which helped to organise the crowdfunding campaign.
Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, said: “For Newcastle to punish a fan for saying she thinks sex is biological and immutable — a view 99 per cent of their fans and 100 per cent of the club’s owners agree with — is a grotesque interference in free speech.
“The sooner they apologise and reinstate Linzi, the better. If Newcastle fights this, the club and its owners will be universally ridiculed. The club should focus on winning games, not winning last year’s woke argument.”
Worth reading in full.
You can donate to Linzi’s crowdfunder here.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.