An East Sussex councillor has been condemned by his peers and Twitter followers for a tweet in which he uses an expletive aimed at "Terfs".
On March 18 Councillor Sean Macleod, replying to a tweet posted by @LibVoice4Women, has commented: "F*** the terfs".
"Terf" refers to Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists, defined simply as someone who only considers people assigned as female at birth to be women - i.e. they don't consider transgender women to be women.
His tweet was condemned by numerous followers before his account was deleted and a new one set up that appears to be "protected" meaning only his approved followers can see it.
The bio section under his name now reads: "trans rights are human rights."
Councillor Macleod represents the Liberal Democrats on Lewes District Council and is the Chair of the Licensing Committee for the Ouse Valley and Ringer ward.
Maria Caulfield, Conservative MP for Lewes, released a statement this afternoon, condemning her fellow councillor, saying:
"I am disgusted by Lib Dem Cllr Sean Macleod’s behaviour.
"It is disgraceful behaviour not allowing women to have a voice.
"I have previously written to the Leader of Lewes District Council regarding the shocking behaviour of Lib Dem Cllr Sean Macleod.
"I have now had complaints from constituents about his latest Tweets showing misogynistic behaviour. Behaviour that is completely unacceptable, especially from someone with such power as a councillor. I have been inundated with emails about his misogynistic tweets about women.
"Given he is supposed to be the Lib Dem’s diversity officer, is it not time that the whip was withdrawn from him.
"Or does he in fact speak for the Lewes Lib Dems?
"Female constituents are very concerned that this is the view of Lewes District Council and that women are not allowed to stand up for the issues that matter to them.
"It is not good enough for Lewes Lib Dem’s to say he is tweeting in a personal capacity, as he is clearly tweeting as a councillor and in his bio states he is chair of licensing."
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