Debate: There Should be NO Protected Beliefs - Equality Act Doesn't Work

Welcome to London's new and exclusive debate society where the style is formal but the passion unbridled, as we delve into the current and philosophical issues of our age.

The motion for the next meeting is: This House Believes There Should Be NO Protected Beliefs

Dress code: smart attire

Join Barrister and Human Rights Lawyer, Dr Anna Loutfi, Maya Forstater, Executive Director of the advocacy group Sex Matters, in a debate about protected beliefs. Why should any belief be "protected"? And why some beliefs and not others?During the Q&A you will be able to question the speakers or make a statement.

TERF or Trans? Whether it is Islam, Transgenderism, Gender Critical views, Christianity or any other religious and/or philosophical world view - why should any of them have special protection in the law?

In a free society, you should be free to express any opinion and view, but should certain beliefs have special protection?

Tickets include a free drink at The Tea House Theatre – hot, cold, soft, or alcoholic.

DRESS CODE: Smart attire (shirt and tie expected)

OUR SPEAKERS:

On The Proposition:

Dr Anna Loutfi: is a practising employment / human rights barrister and legal researcher. She holds a PhD in legal history and is especially interested in how law intersects with politics and ‘culture wars’. Her new podcast, De Facto, launches this year, and aims to provide cutting edge legal commentary for a lay audience. Anna comments widely on issues that touch on how law is applied, and she is concerned with the importance of a shared legal value system across communities in order for the Rule of Law to work, and how misunderstood political correctness can lead to a breakdown in how justice is done or seen to be done.

On the Opposition:

Maya Forstater: is a British researcher and campaigner known forwinning a landmark 2021 employment appeal case, Forstater v CGD Europe, which established that "gender-critical" beliefs—the view that biological sex is immutable and not to be conflated with gender identity—are protected under the Equality Act 2010. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of the advocacy group Sex Matters.

Other speakers TBC

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Agora Debate Club is a unique debate club in London that allows you to debate on the side you feel most strongly in favour of. Unlike other debate clubs, we do not assign you a side, instead you choose the side and you argue your own case without the need to coordinate your argument with the other debaters on your side.

Votes will be taken before and after debates, and the side with the greatest swing in its favour, is declared the winner.

We adhere to the Chatham House rules, which means that it is strictly forbidden to name any speaker, whether a debater or anyone else, if you share any statements made during the debates outside of the meeting.

Formality and ceremony are central to our debates to engender respect for opponents and audience as well as to provide a framework for true passion.

We aim to meet six times a year for debates on current or philosophical issues.

The name "Agora" comes from the ancient Greek word for the marketplace and town square where debates were held. A debate is an expression of the marketplace of ideas, and as we believe in the free trade of ideas, the name Agora Debate Club perfectly expresses what we are all about.

Our logo has three pillars, each representing one of the basic values the club is based on: Reason, Logic and Free Speech.

Each pillar has two ends, six in all, representing the six gatherings we aim to have per year.

Join us and experience the thrill of rational Enlightenment discourse in the heart of legal London