A practising witch has claimed she was thrown off a druid training course over accusations by a member of the UK Pagan Federation that she was "transphobic" in a row about women's rights.
Angela Howard, 48, alleged the British Druid Order revoked her membership and prevented her from accessing course materials on its website following comments she made online supporting the exclusion of trans women from single-sex spaces for women.
Howard claims she was "defamed" by members of the Pagan Federation, who branded her transphobic.
She also said she was banned in April from continuing her training because of her support for women-only spaces, shattering the solace she had sought in druidry and paganism.
Howard revealed she became involved with paganism and joined the British Druid Order in 2020 to find "spiritual healing" after being sexually assaulted.
She described herself as a "second-generation witch" taking after her mother who was a high priestess and ran a coven in the 1980s.
Arthur Pendragon, who ordained Angela Howard, leads incantations as revellers celebrate the pagan festival of 'Winter Solstice' at Stonehenge
GETTY
In 2023, Howard was "knighted" as a "warrior princess" at Stonehenge and began training as a student "Bard" - a division of modern druidry defined as storytellers, poets, musicians, historians, artists and performers.
However, the dispute began three days after the landmark Supreme Court judgment that ruled the definition of a woman under equality laws related to biological sex, rather than "certificated gender" acquired by trans people.
Howard told The Times that the Pagan Federation put up a post on its official Facebook page entitled: "Statement of Support for Trans People from the Pagan Federation".
According to Howard, in contradiction of the Supreme Court ruling, it asserted that trans women should be regarded to be exactly the same as biological females and that this position was "not up for debate".
Howard said she responded to this statement by commenting that there were situations in which women needed single-sex spaces, such as changing rooms, women's refuges and prisons.
She illustrated the point by citing her own experience of being sexually assaulted by a trans person, a man who identified as a woman, and being unable to access a rape crisis service because it was "mixed-sex".
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Trans rights protesters pictured demonstrating in Edinburgh following the Supreme Court rulingPAHoward claimed that her comments were deleted and said that she was blocked from viewing the contents of the Facebook page, which you have to be a member to access.
Four days later, the British Druid Order also banned her from their Facebook page when she criticised an article posted there that described the Supreme Court ruling as a "victory for bigotry".
Howard said her response included only one line of criticism and an expression of sympathy for trans women in prison, while also asking the article's author whether he had read the judgment.
However, she said she was expelled from the site by its administrators after a member of the Pagan Federation support team claimed she had been "more unequivocally transphobic" in her comments.
Howard said that when she attempted to log in to the BDO website as a member, she was locked out.
When she contacted one of the moderators, she was informed that it appeared she had been banned on May 1.
Campaigners celebrated the ruling outside the Supreme CourtPAIn a written complaint to the BDO this week, Howard pointed out that women and girls were the "largest and most consistently oppressed group worldwide", adding: "Even here in the UK, I cannot safely wear a witch's hat in public without receiving threatening or fearful looks."
She continued: "It is profoundly ironic, then, that within modern paganism and druidry (movements that should be committed to liberation, healing and truth) we are witnessing a kind of spiritual witch-hunt against those who speak up for the rights, safety and dignity of women and girls."
The Pagan Federation said: "We have a robust complaints procedure, which is designed to ensure fairness and accountability across all aspects of Pagan Federation activities.
"The process is accessible by both members and non-members alike. We have a policy of not commenting on complaints made under our procedures, which may be ongoing. This is to ensure the fairness of the process and to protect all parties involved."
A spokesman for the British Druid Order also said it had received a complaint that was being reviewed and therefore had no further comment to make.
More From GB News
Most Read
