Tag: free speech

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Academics and researchers Healthcare Men

I feel that free speech is being stifled in academic environments

This matters to me because I’m scared that the TRA movement is aggressively and perniciously invading the basic human rights of women and children. It further matters to me because I feel that free speech is being stifled, notably in academic environments.

I have spoken up on social media, at work and within my union.

I’ve been threatened and bullied on social media so have almost been forced to make anonymous account. I’ve been threatened and bullied at work.

A man who supports women, terrified academic

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Academics and researchers

I am a social scientist and bad questionnaires make me very cross

I am a social scientist, and bad questionnaires make me very cross. In 2018, became aware that Edward Lord of the City of London corporation was doing a survey to consult on their ‘Gender Identity Policy’. I wrote to the Camden New Journal as follows:

“Speaking as a survey researcher, the questionnaire being used for this consultation is perhaps the most poorly designed I have ever seen.  The first few questions give you the general flavour. Do you agree or disagree that:

  1. A person may come to feel that their gender is different from that assigned to them at birth.
  2. A person who consistently identifies in a gender which is different to the one they were assigned at birth should be accepted by society in their stated gender identity.
  3. A person who consistently identifies in a gender which is different to the one they were assigned at birth should be able to access services commonly provided to the gender with which they now identify.

These are leading questions, designed to guide the respondent to give a pre-determined answer. They are also written in purest gobbledegook.

Imagine trying to respond to this survey if you were a recent immigrant with strong religious views, but without the benefit of a degree in cultural studies.

Can the corporation explain why a supposed consultation on ‘inclusion’ is being carried out in such a blatantly exclusionary way?”

 (The CNJ ran a story rather than my letter – tellingly, they had had no idea before I wrote to them that the consultation was taking place).

I soon realised that what was happening at the City of London was happening everywhere. Policy was being developed under the radar, and without democratic consultation. And people who believe that sex is a real and socially significant category were being silenced and called bigots.

I was astonished. I found the fact that so many people were willing to profess to believe in nonsense deeply unsettling.

I have written about the threats to academic freedom and to sex-disaggregated data collection. I signed a letter to the Guardian from academics supporting academic freedom to discuss sex and gender. I have banged on about what is happening on social media. I have given talks, including at my local Labour party branch.

I am one of the founder signatories to the Labour Women’s Declaration. I took a motion supporting academic freedom to my union congress (which, shockingly, was narrowly defeated). I am one of the founders of UCL Women’s Liberation, which co-organised a conference at UCL with WPUK in February 2020. I have alerted my fellow quantitative social scientists to the threat to the sex question in the 2021 Census, and  co-ordinated a letter from eighty social scientists to the census authorities.

I published a paper “Sex and the Census: Why surveys should not conflate sex and gender identity” in the International Journal of Social Research Methodology.

Everyone who signed the letter to the Guardian on academic freedom in 2018 was targeted with online death threats from a Facebook page run by an anonymous person and followed by a number of enthusiastic students.

I reported this to the police, but they said there was little they could do. This was frightening of course.

Following UCU congress in 2019, myself and other women who put a motion supporting academic freedom to support sex and gender faced defamation from an academic at another university who falsely accused us (on twitter) of advocating violence, including sexual assault, of a junior female academic. The man who made these extraordinary and absurd allegations is an increasingly prominent figure in the union. His branch exec supported him, and a complaint to UCU against him was not upheld.

A small number of academic staff at UCL tried to shut down the UCL Women’s Liberation/WPUK (Woman’s Place UK) conference. While only 10 UCL academics signed a letter to the provost demanding the conference be shut down (for context, UCL has over 7,000 academic staff), six of these had EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) roles, and they succeeded in creating time-consuming administrative problems for us.

I was de-platformed from a research methods seminar by Natcen (National Centre for Social Research) for asserting the value of sex-based data. I never believed such a thing could happen within quantitative social science. This was a huge shock, and I agonised about going public. But I am very glad I did. If we don’t speak openly about these things, most people will remain genuinely clueless about the idiocy and authoritarianism of the genderist movement.

Alice Sullivan, Professor of Sociology, UCL

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Academics and researchers

Everyone I have spoken to about it in person finds the whole thing bonkers

I’m a female athlete so I first became aware of the issue of transwomen in sport when it was brought up in news articles reporting the Caster Semenya case. It was completely obvious to me that males shouldn’t be allowed to self ID into female sports from personal experience.

For example, I frequently finish in or near the top 3 women in competition but male friends who would be nowhere near the same level in the men’s category can beat me easily, or come very close even with relatively little training.

From following a few people who spoke about that issue, I read articles about the impact self ID could have in other areas of life and found myself getting more and more frustrated with the lack of consideration for women’s rights.

I have talked to numerous friends and family about the issue. I follow many GC people on twitter and like tweets but find myself too scared to retweet or comment publicly.

I’m nearly finished a PhD and I’m worried about how publicly holding these views would affect my career prospects.

Everyone I have spoken to about it in person finds the whole thing bonkers. Often other people bring up the males in women’s sports issue with me because they find the whole thing so crazy.

HG, PhD candidate and athlete

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Others

I believe women are being bullied and silenced

I care about the physical safety and dignity of women and girls and I think this is jeopardised by self ID and I think it is wrong that we are  being asked to take this risk to appease trans women.  Single sex spaces should be preserved. 

I care about fairness for women in all fields and consider that women and girls face a loss of opportunity in sports and perhaps at work and in education if their places are being taken by males who identify as women.

I am worried that health issues arising from biological sex ie pregnancy and birth, ante and post natal depression, menopause etc may be impacted when male bodied people identifying as women access services designed for females. I believe women are being bullied and silenced, and asked to “be kind” at best. This is unfair. It is important that we are allowed to defend our sex-based rights. Without a recognition of our biology we may lose these rights which is what concerns me most of all.

At the moment not a great deal but I have talked to family and friends and I have started to make my views known on social media. It feels dangerous.

I have been criticized in twitter. A follower of mine whose son is a trans man said something very unpleasant about how I should worry that my husband was raping my daughters if I was so concerned about sharing bathrooms with men.

LAK, For women and  girls

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Academics and researchers

It feels as if all of my struggles for equality have been thrown in the bin

I have been a feminist for forty years. I have had to share a work bathroom with a trans person who is a stereotype of femininity and gets lauded by colleagues for their stiletto shoes and fishnet tights and mini skirt. It feels as if all of my struggles for equality have been thrown in the bin. I care about the safety of women and girls in sport, prison, school, the toilets . . .

I have engaged lightly on social media, I have spoken fully with friends and have attended women’s meetings behind closed doors.

I know one of my colleagues (a ‘trans-ally’) is aware of my views and I’m sure has been responsible for tearing down flyers I have put up outside my office (from Women’s groups such as WPUK) and replacing them with trans flag flyers.

TREA, Lecturer

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Education

FGM abuse happens to girls based on their sex

Trans people need to be safe, but they need to recognise that some people will take advantage and abuse the system to harm vulnerable women. I am a woman and I can see others being silenced for wanting to talk about being a biological woman, by men. This should not be happening.

I have argued that female genital mutilation (FGM) should not be renamed due to transphobia. Girls are abused based on their sex and we need to make sure that others know this and don’t invalidate the traumatic experiences girls and women deal with by changing the language or comparing FGM to trans surgery.

I have been called a terf, been told I need to be slapped by a cock, slapped by a lady dick, told to choke on girl dick, called a transphobe for wanting to keep vulnerable women safe,  called a stupid bitch

I have had family members inboxed, had emails sent to my work (I oversee all the emails though so was able to delete and remove all traces of employment from social media) for suggesting that men want to silence women .

Sarah

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Academics and researchers

I know in confidence a lot of my colleagues are critical of what is happening

Because as a feminist I care about women’s safety, political representation, voice…

As a scientist I care about truth being grounded in material reality & empirical observations.

As a socialist I believe class analysis is the most powerful tool to reveal the power dynamics at play in the world and I understand that denying that women are a class prevents the analysis of our millennia long subordination and our liberation.

I have spoken up for free speech and debate about gender and sex in my union (UCU). I have written letters, articles (including scientific article), threads on Twitter in order to raise awareness and offer a feminist perspective on the issue. I have signed letters in newspaper. I have campaigned with women’s groups, I have distributed flyers, I have emailed my MPs.

I have been defamed by my union, humiliated during general meetings, called a bigot, laughed at… I can not speak freely at work even though I know in confidence a lot of my colleagues are critical of what is happening. Management is refusing to listen and treats me as an inconvenient voice that needs to be silenced.

L Harris, Scientist and feminist

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Others

My belief in free speech is not only to protect my right to speak, but also to HEAR

I’m concerned about the loss of sex-based rights to safety and security for women and girls, which were long fought for. Also, being asked to lie and to deny reality in order for others to feel more comfortable, whilst seeing those rights being taken away. My belief in free-speech is not only to protect my right to speak, but also to HEAR.

I’m ashamed that my activities have been limited to anonymous comments online, eg. When asked my ‘gender’ in an online form, I fill in “My sex is female”. I’m sure that I would lose friends if I discussed it with them, but I am getting more and more frustrated.

The bravest thing I’ve done has been to attend a public event where gender-critical feminists discussed the dangers of trans-activism.

Since it seems that the only response to such discussions is to scream ‘BIGOT” at those who might question trans-activism, I am ashamed to say that I haven’t really expressed myself publicly to friends.

As a life-long left-wing progressive (as are my friends), I’m horrified that i have allowed myself to not even bring this up in social situations. I’ve seen the negative consequences for those who are braver than me, and I have allowed my fear to silence me.

D, Life-long liberal, which now seems to be a dirty word…, Canada

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Healthcare

I was silenced in a work meeting by managers

I care because I was silenced in a work meeting by managers. It was Trans awareness training within an NHS hospital. My manager came to sit by me and told me not to speak or I’d risk dismissal.

I have shared factual information on the Equality Act regarding sex and gender.

I have had threats of dismissal.

A

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Healthcare Others

Men are still telling women what to think

As a woman I care about this because women’s hard won rights are being eroded.  We need single sex spaces and sports to ensure safety, dignity and equality.  I’m worried that children are being pushed into irreversible medical procedures without the knowledge or maturity to make a wise decision.  Men are still telling women what to think, in fact what we are, it’s the same old misogyny as ever.

I have attended Woman’s Place UK meetings.  I submitted evidence to the GRA consultation.  I’ve written to my MP about my concerns.  I’ve spoken to friends and family about the issue.

I’ve been very careful about who I speak to and what I say so I haven’t personally experienced negative consequences. 

As a 63 year old woman I have a lot of older friends, all the women I know in this age bracket are very concerned about this issue, especially about children being pushed into irreversible medical procedures. 

I’ve heard a lot of stories from other women about the abuse they’ve experienced in the past which makes them particularly anxious to maintain single sex spaces for girls and women as an urgent issue.

Maggie, Woman