Campaigner faces prosecution after making claims about trans GP online

A women's rights campaigner faces possible prosecution for claiming a transgender GP 'enjoy[ed] intimately examining female patients without their consent' on social media last year. 

Maya Forstater, the executive director of charity Sex Matters, has confirmed to MailOnline that her police file is now being considered by the Crown Prosecution Service.

The 51-year-old was first notified she was under investigation by the Metropolitan Police for malicious communications in August 2023, after taking to X (formerly Twitter) to tweet a claim about a transgender GP.

The former GP had previously said that after transitioning, patients allowed her to perform 'more intimate examinations that they did not let me to do when I was a male GP'.

Following what Mr Forstater called a 'Kafkaesque' police probe, she could face prosecution by the CPS for the crime. 

Ms Forstater was first contacted by police officers two months after her tweet in June 2023, and was invited to a voluntary interview with the force to share her version of the incident. 

She alleged that the Met Police warned her that she would be arrested unless she voluntarily attend a police interview. 

Ms Forstater claims she was given no details of the allegation except that it was regarding a post allegedly targeting a person from the transgender community.

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She was then interviewed under caution at Charing Cross police station in September 2023, where she discovered the allegation related to a tweet she had made about a transgender GP. 

In August of this year, it was confirmed to Ms Forstater that her police file had been passed on to CPS, but she claims that she has not been updated since.  

When contacted by MailOnline, Ms Forstater her right to freedom of speech, claiming she was being 'discriminated' against by the police for the tweet. 

'I am just one of the people who have been caught by this. They [the police] should be out catching criminals not hurt feelings on Twitter,' she said. 

'This is a part of a pattern of police going after people who express gender critical views,' she added.

'I wrote a tweet and someone was offended by a tweet - I hate to think about the police resources are spent on a social media posts. 

'If there is any sense in the world the CPS will see there is no crime here.

'Its a massive infringement on my freedom of speech and the freedom of speech of anybody who wants to say any truth.' 

She previously told the Telegraph: 'When I express my views publicly, I do not do so with the intention of causing distress or anxiety to those who disagree with me.' 

'I express my views because they are important to me, and I consider them to be a legitimate contribution to an ongoing political debate.

'It may well be that persons who have seen my tweets are offended or upset, or would prefer that I did not utter them. 

'There is no right not to be offended in a democratic society, nor to use the powers of the state to destroy other people's rights in pursuit of your own political goals.

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'Nothing that I have tweeted comes anywhere close to meeting the criteria of being so obviously indecent, grossly offensive, threatening or factually false that it called for an investigation into my intentions in writing it.'

Ms Forstater's experience encouraged her to reach out to  journalist Allison Pearson, 64, who was informed on Remembrance Sunday that she was under investigation for a post she had made on the platform over a year ago. 

Allison Pearson, 64, claimed two Essex Police officers turned up at her door at 9.40am on Remembrance Sunday to inform her she was being investigated over a post on X from a year ago.

The writer said she was still in her dressing gown when one officer at the door said 'I was accused of a non-crime hate incident. 

'It was to do with something I had posted on X a year ago. A YEAR ago? Yes. Stirring up racial hatred apparently'.

Ms Forstater told MailOnline: 'When I saw her story there were so many parallels in her experience. 

'They couldn't tell her who the tweet was from. They talked about the victim as if they proved there had already been a crime.

'The only difference is they didn't turn up at my door, they emailed me.' 

She described the process with the police as 'terrifying', explaining that she felt she was not being questioned by the force but a political organisation.

A spokesperson from the Met Police said: 'An allegation of malicious communication was reported to police in June 2023 relating to post on social media. 

'A number of enquiries have been carried out by officers and these enquiries are ongoing. This has included liaising with the CPS.

'While it is right that we carry out a full investigation, we do recognise the length of time this has taken so far and the impact it will undoubtedly have had on all parties.'