United Kingdom
Feminist student societies in universities ‘can exclude trans women’
EWAN SOMERVILLE – 4 February 2023 – The Telegraph
Bristol Students’ Union chiefs back down in row after being sued for disciplining its own female-only group over single-sex policy
Feminist student societies can exclude transgender women, university students’ union chiefs have admitted after “landmark” legal action.
Bristol Students’ Union (SU) caused anger by disciplining Women Talk Back (WTB), its own feminist group, for excluding male-born trans women from talks on rape and sexual assault.
The society had hosted women-only meetings at the University of Bristol to discuss male violence and argued that the presence of trans women could make attendees fearful of speaking out. However, a student later complained.
Following an investigation, in Feb 2021 Bristol SU demanded that Raquel Rosario Sanchez, its president, stand down before banning her from leadership posts for two years and ordering an “equality, diversity and inclusion” course for the society.
In response, four members of WTB took legal action, arguing in Bristol County Court papers that Bristol SU had “denied them their rights under the Equality Act, discriminated against the claimants, subjected them to detriments, treated them less favourably, harassed and victimised them”.
Now, Bristol SU has backed down and admitted that “affiliated clubs and societies may lawfully offer single-sex services and be constituted as single-sex associations” under the Equality Act.
In an out-of-court settlement this month, the students’ union confirmed that it “understands that Women Talk Back was seeking to operate in this way” and “WTB could, should they wish to do so, re-apply for affiliation to the Union on that basis”.
Bristol SU’s statement added: “In doing so, WTB would set out in their constitution the Equality Act 2010 definition of ‘women’ being ‘a female of any age’ instead of the byelaws definition.”
This marked an about-turn for Bristol SU chiefs, who had initially told the society that their byelaw definition of women, “all who self-define as women”, meant they “do not allow a group to restrict their membership to cisgender women” so they could not be single-sex.
On Saturday, WTB hailed the “landmark” outcome for setting a legal precedent for universities across the UK which “make it easier for women like us in academia to breathe”.
Ms Rosario Sanchez, who is also a PhD student at the University of Bristol’s Centre for Gender and Violence Research, told The Telegraph: “Trans activists in academia thought we would wither away if only they bullied and intimidated us enough. But we refused to cower, disassemble or quit.
“Through our experience, we’ve inspired the first recognition of single-sex societies as lawful in academia. Our story is about young women using their voice to make positive change that benefits all students, regardless of sex.”
‘A step forward’
The society, which has 73 registered members and has had hundreds more attend its meetings, crowdfunded £52,000 for its legal action.
Elizabeth McGlone, a solicitor at Didlaw who represented WTB, told The Telegraph: “WTB and BSU reached agreement earlier this month with BSU recognising that WTB was seeking to operate as a single-sex service in accordance within the lawful exceptions under the Equality Act 2010.
“BSU has updated its guidance on affiliation and reaffiliation as a result of this case.
“I consider this is a step forward in respect of the protection of single-sex spaces which, in specific circumstances are lawful under the Equality Act 2010, on the basis they are a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, such as privacy or prevention of trauma.”
Trans activism in campus
It was the latest clash between gender-critical feminists and Left-wing activists on British campuses.
In 2019, Bristol SU backed proposals to ban visiting speakers who are judged to be “Terfs”, a term regarded as a slur for trans-exclusionary radical feminists…
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ENGLAND
University scholars compare feminist conference to ‘enabling eugenics’
EWAN SOMERVILLE – 4 February 2023 – The Telegraph
UCL academics condemned for remarks after a group of trans rights activists target event and allegedly assault a woman
University academics have compared a feminist conference promoting women’s rights on campus to “enabling eugenics”.
Police were called to University College London (UCL) on Saturday as about two dozen transgender rights activists banged on windows and allegedly assaulted a woman while the Education For Women’s Liberation conference was held.
About 900 people, including academics, students and writers, gathered on the leading Russell Group campus to discuss how scholarly research can “bring feminism back into the lecture theatres”.
However, as it began at 9am, two lecturers who co-direct qUCL, a staff and student research group on gender studies and queer theory, released a statement comparing the conference to eugenics.
Dr Simon Lock, a UCL associate professor of science communication, and Dr Xine Yao, a lecturer in American literature, wrote: “We are deeply concerned that inviting speakers and organisations who are well known to promote anti-trans and anti-queer views onto our campus invalidates the hard work UCL has undertaken over the last several years to address issues of EDI [equality, diversity and inclusion], including the legacy of eugenics and debates about anti-Semitism.”One attendee reported how trans rights activists banged on windows and swore at them CREDIT: Twitter/Freya Vandiss
Their statement added: “Debate and dissent are foundational to scholarly inquiry, however false equivalence is damaging.
“To entertain uniformed positions that hurt, or worse question the validity of marginalised peoples, places UCL in the position of once again enabling the likes of the eugenics conferences that ran on campus through 2017.”
Their comments sparked condemnation from leading professors in attendance, especially since UCL was the first UK university to admit women on equal terms to men, in 1878.
Alice Sullivan, a professor of sociology at UCL, who spoke on a panel, told The Telegraph: “The idea that believing that sex matters is somehow comparable to eugenics is grotesque and defamatory.”
Another panel speaker, Prof Jo Phoenix, a criminology expert at the University of Reading, said: “To compare feminist ideas and debate, to the ideology that led to the murder and sterilisation of millions worldwide is both supremely anti-academic and, quite frankly, disgusting.”The trans rights activists were said to have created an ‘intimidating’ atmosphere for those who attended the conference
The Metropolitan Police confirmed it was called just after 3.40pm to “disorder associated with a demo” and there was “an allegation that someone tried to grab something”.
Katy Worley, the founder of the Make More Noise feminist group, told The Telegraph she was filming about 25 trans activist protesters chanting outside the UCL’s Institute of Education, when “a hooded gentleman came up to me, said ‘Stop filming me!’ and then grabbed my phone, wrestled it out of my hand and threw it over a wall”.
She added: “He pulled both of my thumbs back, which are now bruised and hurt. I held onto his rucksack and shouted for security saying ‘Help! Help! Help! I’m being assaulted!’ He tussled with me and ran down the street and disappeared.”
Police officers attended and she reported an assault and theft.
Trans rights activists chanted: “When trans rights are under attack, we fight back!” In videos on social media, one attendee, Sarah Jane Baker, a transgender convict who served 30 years behind bars for kidnapping and attempted murder, shouted at attendees telling them they are “c—s”.This flyer was circulated between trans activists notifying them of the UCL event
Another trans rights activist, visibly angry, shouted at Prof Phoenix and other attendees to wild cheers via a megaphone: “You try to deny our existence! Literally f— you! This is our university! This is our space! You are not welcome here and we will make sure that you will never, ever be here again!”
Raquel Rosario Sanchez, a women’s rights campaigner who also spoke on a panel, said that the activists “circled the building from outside” and “were shouting and stomping outside our window so we had to change rooms”.
Watch: Trans activists hound Nadhim Zahawi off university campus
EWAN SOMERVILLE – 30 May 2022 – The Telegraph
Video shows Education Secretary being ushered away by security guards at Warwick University after he was pursued by student protesters
Trans activists have hounded Nadhim Zahawi off a Russell Group campus, accusing him of “inciting hatred” by defining women as “adult human females”, The Telegraph can reveal.
The Education Secretary was met by dozens of student protesters chanting “Zahawi is a transphobe” and “Tory scum” while visiting the University of Warwick on Friday.
The Cabinet minister had to be ushered away from campus by security guards in dramatic scenes, as he was pursued by activists brandishing trans flags and placards.
The furore began when Warwick University’s Conservative Association invited him to the campus – one of Britain’s 24 top-flight institutions – to speak to students.
That prompted Warwick Pride to issue an open letter accusing Mr Zahawi of “inciting hatred”. The Warwick student union’s society for “Lesbian, Gay, Bi+, Trans, Undefined and Asexual/Aromantic”, claimed he “plays a significant role in institutionalised transphobia” and that his presence on campus “clearly violates SU by-laws on equality and diversity”.
The students also claimed he had used “the common transphobic dog whistle ‘adult human female’”, after he stated his definition of a woman last month and addressed the Labour Party’s floundering over whether a woman can have a penis.
Following their unsuccessful attempt to have him deplatformed by complaining to the student union, about 30 students gathered outside the lecture hall where Mr Zahawi was speaking and chanted “Tory scum”. An eyewitness said they were banging on the doors.
As the Education Secretary left a second talk to the Conservative Association’s members following two hours on campus, videos obtained by The Telegraph showed them pursuing him out of the venue while security staff tried to protect him.
Tom Garth, 20, the Conservative association’s chairman and a politics student, told The Telegraph: “As Zahawi was leaving the second, members-only talk, protesters rushed towards him and one landed a blow on to one of our executive members’ head, our events secretary, although he wasn’t injured.
“They were positioned outside the lecture hall, banging on the doors and blasting music too. Then when Zahawi was exiting with security, they continued and tried to follow him all the way to his car, trying to get as close as possible to him.”
It comes as the Education Secretary is spearheading the Government’s new academic freedom Bill, which will allow universities and students’ unions to be fined or sued for censorship and no-platforming speakers.
He stridently defended Kathleen Stock, the leading philosophy professor, when she was targeted by trans activists at Sussex University last year in another major trans row, which was cited by Warwick Pride in its open letter.
A Department for Education source said: “This proves the need for the Freedom of Speech Bill and is more evidence against those who say there is no such thing as a chilling culture on campus.”
The protesters, some of whom were masked, also chanted “LGB with the T”, “no space for transphobes” and “trans rights are human rights”, according to the event hosts.
The activists also reportedly tried to gain entry to Mr Zahawi’s campus talk by obtaining tickets. University officials are set to make a formal complaint to Warwick students’ union about the incident, it is understood.
A spokesman for the University of Warwick Conservative Association said following the incident: “We were thankful to the campus community safety team for the work they did to help us run the event, without them it would not have been safe to hold the event both for members or the Secretary of State.
“The anger and hatred aimed at us that evening only scratches the surface when it comes to revealing what protesters actually feel towards those they disagree with. …
Cambridge University ‘Terf-spotting’ guide condemned as a ‘witch-finder’s charter’
EWAN SOMERVILLE – 13 October 2021 – The Telegraph
Women’s officer issues document advising students to ‘keep an eye out’ for those who think biological sex is binary
The women’s officer of Cambridge University’s Students Union has been condemned after issuing a guide on how to spot “Terfs”.
Students have been advised to “keep an eye out” for those who think biological sex is binary and that only women can experience misogyny.
“Terf”, which stands for trans exclusionary radical feminist, is generally used as a derogatory term for those who argue biological sex cannot be changed and that women-only spaces should not be opened to male-born trans women.
The document, published among resources on housing and exams advice, was drawn up by Milo Eyre-Morgan, the elected women’s officer, who goes by the pronouns he/him or they/them and vows to represent “marginalised genders”.
The new Cambridge guide, promoted by the women’s officer on Monday, lists several “signs of a Terf”.
The guide goes on to say that “some people who experience misogyny are not women”, and urges students to be “allies” by “keeping an eye out for this way of thinking” in any feminist works they study.
‘Terf ideology is a specific form of transphobia’
It claims “Terf ideology is a specific form of transphobia” and gives tips for “talking to Terfs” in-person and online.
It adds: “The core characteristics of Terfs are a conservative, binary, essentialist conception of sex as the be-all-end-all, and a deep hatred for trans women, couched in the language of feminism and feminist theory.”
James Orr, assistant professor in philosophy of religion at Cambridge’s Faculty of Divinity, compared the document to a guide on “how to spot a witch”.
“It’s an attempt to set out a witch-finder’s charter and it’s driven by ideology not reason,” he said. “This is an extremely sinister development and is effectively incentivising behaviour among students that is wholly opposed to the flourishing of any serious intellectual culture.
“These are perfectly plausible and defensible positions to hold, not immoral and not even close to being unlawful, and should be able to be expressed freely – especially if you think they are wrong. How long before people wake up to this crisis?”
‘Trans rights and women’s rights should both be protected’
A third-year Cambridge philosophy student at Clare College, who wished to stay anonymous, said: “There is not enough transparency from the SU; gender identity is grounded in biological sex.
“Trans rights and women’s rights and both should be protected. To ensure healthy discussion, you should have a separate elected women’s officer and an elected trans officer.”
The issue was further highlighted this week after anonymous trans activists at Sussex University launched a campaign to fire Professor Kathleen Stock.
Prof Stock, an expert in analytic philosophy, recently published a book questioning the idea that gender identity is more “socially significant” than biological sex.
She has also previously questioned the idea that men who feel like women should have automatic access to women-only facilities such as changing rooms, or be allowed to appear on women-only shortlists or sports teams.
Amid threats of violence and death, police advised Prof Stock to teach classes online and install CCTV outside her home, with possible bodyguards when she does return to campus.
‘I do worry there are pressures towards restricting free speech’
Dr Arif Ahmed, a reader in philosophy at Cambridge, said: “The current persecution of Kathleen Stock has contributed to an atmosphere in higher education where one side of a very important public policy debate feels unable to speak out and in some cases probably is.
“I do worry that at Cambridge, as at any other university, there are pressures towards restricting free speech on this issue and my greatest fear is that these will be translated into disciplinary policy and official guidance from the top.
“Freedom is not a natural state of humanity, it is something we always have to protect.”…
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University feminist society ‘purged by trans activists’ with members frightened into quitting
EWAN SOMERVILLE – 3 September 2022 – The Telegraph
Swansea society accused of transphobia after publicly supporting Kathleen Stock and books by feminist author Helen Joyce
A university feminist society has been “purged by trans activists”, with its email accounts shut down and members quitting for their safety.
The women-only Swansea University Feminist Society had dozens of students attending its meetings, advertised as a “space away from men” to discuss issues such as the Welsh city’s surge of spiking incidents.
But campus activists made “transphobia” allegations and demanded its leader be expelled after the society publicly supported Kathleen Stock, the professor bullied for her trans views at Sussex University, and promoted the feminist writer Helen Joyce’s book.
The “frenzied” backlash included its leader’s personal social media accounts being shared online and friends of student members vowing to never talk to them again, the society said.
Activists piled on its Instagram account, writing “shut up Terf” – a slur for trans exclusionary radical feminist – and “freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences you dumb f—s”.
Students’ Union launched transphobia investigation
Swansea University Students’ Union launched a transphobia investigation and sent emails, seen by The Telegraph, demanding an “urgent meeting” over social media posts.
Nine months on, the probe is still “ongoing”, but during the summer holidays the society’s email account was quietly deleted and its profile page removed from the union’s website.
Campaigners said the episode is a cautionary tale of the “national scandal” of campus feminists being censured if they view trans women as different from biological women.
Abby Claron, 23, the outgoing president of the society, said “we have been purged by trans activists” for “openly supporting women’s sex based-rights and sex-based spaces”.
The recent philosophy graduate told The Telegraph: “We’re not sure how there can be an ‘investigation’ that lasts the entire academic year, but never once involved us?
“My committee members were frightened into quitting, with one telling me that her friends were no longer speaking to her if she remained in the society. The university vice-chancellor also ignored all letters of support sent to us by women’s rights groups.”
The society then arranged its committee for the 2022-23 academic year, but was told in July that it must “re-conduct” the election on a date chosen by the students’ union.
Union claims election ‘failed’
But without disclosing the results, the union claimed the election had “failed” due to “timing” which they had set, Ms Claron said, meaning the society is now in limbo.
“Frankly, I find their behaviour appalling, what has happened to us is concerning for freedom of speech more generally, and the academic climate of Swansea University,” she said.
“They have completely removed us from everything under the convenient guise that our election has ‘failed’, despite other ‘defunct’ societies still showing on the SU’s website.
“The committee next year is concerned about the consequences they will face if they try to continue on their own. The next year’s president is concerned that people will find her personal and work accounts, and that her job could be at risk.”
Last year, the head of Bristol University’s feminist group was banned for excluding trans women from talks about rape and sexual assault.
Toby Young, the Free Speech Union’s general secretary, said: “The gradual erasure of feminist societies in Britain’s universities is a national scandal and is a perfect illustration of why the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill, which will hold universities to account, is so urgently needed…