PrsRls: Suppressed Minority Report Exposes Evidence of Authoritarian Tactics in Party at Heart of its Cancel Culture

Submitted by admin on Mon, 07/05/2021 - 12:30

For Immediate Release

Monday, July 5th, 2021

For further information, Contact:
Ann Menasche <aemenasche@georgiagreenparty.org>
    counsel assisting in defense of Georgia Green Party
Hugh Esco <hesco@georgiagreenparty.org> 912-571-1833 (cell, sms)
    Secretary, Georgia Green Party

Suppressed Minority Report Exposes
Evidence of Authoritarian Tactics in Party
at Heart of its Cancel Culture

Today the author of a suppressed minority report has released its contents to the public.  Ignoring party rules requiring that "(m)inority reports shall be submitted . . . when requested by committee members", national Party Secretary David Gerry (of Massachusetts) and Floor Manager Tamar Yager (of Virginia) this morning initiated discussion on GNC #1062 without reference to the minority report filed by a member of Accreditation Committee, which had referred the resolution for National Committee consideration.  

The minority report was authored by Jeff Sutter, appointed to serve on the committee by the Indiana Green Party.  GNC #1062 represents the referral by the Accreditation Committee of a complaint filed with them by the National Lavender Caucus.  If adopted, #1062 would result in the revocation of accreditation of the Georgia Green Party. The Georgia Green Party has been a member in good standing with the national party since before the 1999 Moodus CT meeting, prior to the party's formal recognition in 2001. Sutter was left to publish the report on his own, as its existence is being suppressed in official party archives.  

The suppression of the minority report in violation of the rules of the party, continues a pattern of authoritarianism in the handling of the Lavender Caucus complaint painstakingly documented in the minority report itself.  

In his minority report, Mr. Sutter lays out his conclusions on the first page before spending 9 pages arguing the evidence backing up his findings, and an additional two appendices citing key excerpts from the defense pleadings and the testimony of the expert witnesses for the defense.  Sutter wrote in this introduction:

"With respect to the first goal, it has become clear to me that the positions the Georgia party has taken are legitimate from a Green point of view. Before I started reading further about this issue, I would have signed right on to the grievance, with “of course that’s right!” But no more. A closer look reveals a reality that’s psychologically, medically, and politically more complex."

"With respect to the second and third goals, I believe that the committee has failed. A biased and stacked Accreditation Committee has made fair consideration of the issues impossible, in my view. Further the process to date on the Complaint has been so thoroughly tainted as to render illegitimate any determination to revoke the Georgia party’s accreditation on the basis of the report it produced."

At the heart of the conflict which led to the referral of #1062 for National Committee action has been the demands by the party's Lavender Caucus that the Georgia Green Party be ejected from the national confederation.  These demands were in reaction to platform amendments adopted at the Georgia party's 2020 Bonaire Convention amending the Platform of the Georgia Green Party to endorse the Declaration on Women’s Sex-based Rights.  This Declaration has so far been signed by 18,724 signers from 137 countries and 350  organizations.  The Declaration reaffirms women and girls’ existing sex based rights under international law.  It challenges the discrimination women face as a result of changes in law and policy, replacing sex with gender identity as a protected class. Critics claim that 'gender identity' is built on circular definitions and sexist stereotypes.  The Declaration and the Georgia party platform amendments challenge the medical 'transitioning' of minor children, incapable of informed consent, known to result in sterility and other severe medical issues, 'turning healthy bodies into life-long medical patients' according to Georgia party officers.  

Both documents also also speak for the protection of women's and girls' sports from the unfair competition by male bodied athletes; and for the protection of women-only programs, set-asides and private spaces, particularly where occupants have a need to be in a state of undress.  

In the body of Mr. Sutter's Minority Report, he argues that:

  • The positions taken by the Georgia Party are not transphobic
  • The Georgia Green Party is not in violation of the GPUS accreditation requirements
  • The NLC Complaint seeks to expand the Accreditation requirements as they exist in the rules of the party without action by the Green National Committee to amend those rules
  • the AC-LC fails, but the Georgia party does recognize the harm caused by gender identity ideology to women, lesbians, gay men and to gender non-conforming or gender dysphoric minors
  • the Accreditation Committee has conducted unfair and undemocratic proceedings
  • the AC failed to assess the validity of Georgia’s defense
  • the Georgia party was denied an opportunity to present its defense or point of view
  • the AC process was characterized by a large number of other procedural deficiencies
  • the AC added new allegations regarding 'internal democracy' not contained in the Lavender Caucus complaint
  • no open discussion of the Lavender Caucus’s gender claims has been allowed
  • a responsible Lavender Caucus would have engaged in honest state-level politics

Sutter concludes the body of his report stating that "The Green Party must be able to listen meaningfully to public opinion and discuss policy within the broad polity, or we will have little chance to appeal to voters or to contribute to legislation.  The Accreditation Committee’s approach is to enforce narrow positions grounded in gender identity ideology insisted on by caucus activists as if they are Green Party requirements, and thus guarantee the party’s irrelevance. This disempowers the GPUS, and empowers the billionaire class’ favorite puppets, the political duopoly."

The minority report proceeds in its own Appendix A., to quote key passages from each document included in the 100+ pages of supporting documents attached as appendices to the defense pleadings filed on May 11th, 2021 by the Georgia Green Party.  It goes further quoting in its Appendix B., excerpts from each of the expert witnesses deposed by the Georgia Green Party in its defense, but denied a hearing by the Accreditation Committee.  

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To access the following documents, please follow this link.