Campaigners object to elevation of biological man to management role in Women's Institute while Northern Irish wing refuses to comment

The Women's Rights Network NI and Women's Space Ireland have both objected to the apparent elevation of Petra – formerly Peter – Wenham to the membership committee of the National Federation of Women's Institutes (NFWI).

The story surfaced thanks to a body calling itself the Women's Institute Declaration, made up of WI members who oppose the spread of transgender ideology within the movement.

They announced that a letter had been sent out from the central NFWI to local branches, saying that Wenham had been selected to sit on its seven-strong national membership committee.

The way the WI is structured is this:

The grassroots is comprised of a patchwork of local branches, which are themselves part of regional federations, on top of which sits the NFWI, running the movement's affairs on behalf of its 180,000-or-so members.

The NFWI's remit only runs in Great Britain, though.

In Northern Ireland there is a different body called The Federation of Women's Institutes of Northern Ireland (FWINI) controlling the affairs of roughly 5,000 members Province-wide.

– WHO IS THE MEMBER IN QUESTION? –

Wenham is a retired computer security expert from East Anglia, now aged 77.

A member of a WI branch in Ipswich called ‘Cake and Revolution’, in 2021 Wenham caused a stir by appearing on the front cover of the WI's national magazine.

Having fathered two children and been married to a woman for over 40 years, he had decided at age 68 that he wanted to "transition".

Wenham had cross-dressed for some years beforehand – a fact of which his wife was aware.

An interview in 2021 with Femail, the Daily Mail's women's section (which described Wenham as a "trailblazing covergirl"), mentions hormone treatment, but the News Letter has been unable to find any reference to surgery.

However, under current UK law (which trans activists say is too restrictive) people can legally change their gender without taking any hormones or undergoing surgery.

– AND WHO’S OBJECTING? –

Dee O’Mahony, a spokeswoman for the Women's Rights Network NI, which claims some 500 members, said: "Leadership roles are systematically dominated by males across nearly all sectors in society, and it is particularly insulting that the Women's Institute has chosen to elevate a male to their membership committee.

"The Women's Institute should put the concerns, needs, and interests of biological women first.

"The Women’s Rights Network of Northern Ireland welcome all women who share the view that humans cannot change sex - our door is open to women who want their sex-based rights and protections retained.

"The Women's Institute policy to continue to allow trans-identified males into their organisation has been challenged from within its own ranks, with some members asking for a moratorium and an open debate that focuses on women as a biological sex class, rather than an individual's personal expression.

"It is very disappointing to see that call has not been heeded."

Meanwhile Jill Nesbitt of Women's Space Ireland, a campaign group with similar aims, told the News Letter: "Including a man means excluding a woman who could have taken that place on the National Federation’s membership committee.

"It’s very unfair to the women of the Women’s Institute to add a man when the WI is clearly a women’s organisation."

The News Letter approached the Northern Irish FWINI, but it refused to comment on the case.

The News Letter also tried to contact the NFWI, but no response was received.

More from this reporter:

• Transgender campaigner Peter Tatchell says 'we should not be having these discussions' when asked on BBC Northern Ireland if men have wombs and get pregnant