LONDON, Oct 4 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Britain's leading LGBT+ rights group was attacked on Thursday for stifling debate as opinion split over whether the rights of trans women were compatible with those of other women.

The debate has raged in recent months and was rekindled when a group of high-powered campaigners wrote to the Times newspaper to lambast Stonewall's dismissal of opposing views to its stance that "trans women are women".

"We urge Stonewall to acknowledge that there are a range of valid viewpoints around sex, gender and transgender politics, and to acknowledge specifically that a conflict exists between transgenderism and sex-based women's rights," the letter said.

"We call on Stonewall to commit to fostering an atmosphere of respectful debate," said the letter, signed by singer Alison Moyet, writer Philip Hensher and 15 others.

With a nod to Stonewall's campaigning history, co-author Kate Harris, a former vice-president at American Express, said the statement was "the last thing anyone wanted to do".

"The call to action is simple," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "We are asking Stonewall to allow a calm and respectful debate … rather than demonising as transphobic those who dissent from Stonewall's trans policies."

At the heart of the matter is whether trans rights are compatible with those of other women.

A poll conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation of 1,000 women in Cairo, London, Mexico, New York and Toyko last month revealed that the overwhelming majority – 798 – believed trans women should have the same rights as other women. Read more via Thomson Reuters Foundation