Kathleen Stock on academic freedom

That is a terrifying read. Almost all women, as far as I could see.

I agree that some of the self-congratulatory academics, who loudly proclaim how “inclusive” and “supportive” they are, should be confronted with evidence of this intellectual totalitarianism.

I hope you're right, but in the vast majority of those testimonies the academics said they are now being quiet and some even said they felt ashamed but were putting their careers first.

They haven’t all been silenced and more and more people are coming forward.

Very depressing reading - and the most depressing thing of all is that most of those academics who spoke up (or re-tweeted etc) in the past are no longer speaking and are now being careful to toe the line. They have been silenced.

Extremely important point:

There is another incident I would like to mention, that I feel is really important in light of the typical accusations that signatories of such letters are all white and racist, amongst other things. The way I found out about the Stonewall HE guidance is that it was sent to me by a junior colleague who got it from her departmental Equal Opportunities Liaison Officer. This colleague is a Black woman who felt she could not speak out about her concerns. As is well documented, the institutional racism in British academia and beyond means that Black women face significant challenges and obstacles to promotion, so they are far less likely to be found in senior academic positions. And because the personal and professional risks of speaking out on this issue are so high, it is more likely to be academics in secure, more senior positions, who are also less vulnerable because of not being in already marginalised groups, who do so. So, yes, no surprise really that most of the signatories are white; there’s intersectionality for you.”

Not 'about t*rfy,' I meant 'a bit'

I'm glad there's solidarity. At the same time it doesn't take much for a full dept to swing a particular way and clearly people are going through things they really shouldn't.

The way students are coming across in this is very worrying, in terms of their actual sanity and their ability to ruin careers.

This must be so scary for so many.

Some of what I'm reading I find so preposterous I laughed. To be quickly followed by fear for these academics.

. I’m out of the firing line now, but my entire department undertook compulsory Gender Awareness Training recently, where the only permitted truths about gender identity, biology and social construction were imparted to a room of 40 PhD-possessed academics, who being savvier than me already knew better than to answer back.

This is a lol but also, Jesus, if they asked a difficult question I wonder if it's noted?

but I’ve also witnessed solidarity among academics. Plenty really don’t know this is going on and are shocked when they hear about it.

That’s my experience too. I broke it to my colleague yesterday that lesbians can now have a penis and that if she was to stand in the middle of the campus and proclaim otherwise there would be calls for her sacking. She was horrified. All my male colleagues are very supportive (albeit without actually saying anything publicly). But I am lucky enough to work with some exceptionally smart people, rather than SJW ideologues who regard thinking as a form of bigotry.

Yes that’s right neuro. I’ve witnessed this but I’ve also witnessed solidarity among academics. Plenty really don’t know this is going on and are shocked when they hear about it.

It all goes to demonstrate how the Higher Education sector is failing in its Public Sector Equality Duty to uphold the UK law that is the Equality Act 2010 plus the 1998 UK Human Rights law, which is derived from UN Declaration of Human Rights 1948 plus the European Convention on Human Rights 1953.

The UK Equalities and Human Rights Commission [EHRC] issued guidance to the Higher Education Providers' sector earlier this year and still it seems that this is being ignored:

www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/higher-education-providers-guidance

And thank you so much to K stock and all the contributors to this collation of stories.

These stories need to keep being told.

I'm now less surprised at how Michele Moore has been treated.

I'll add my own from a different perspective; I've been told by an academic that some academics are extremely worried about associating with any academic who is known to be "about t*rfy." To the point of worrying if they should share platforms with them on subjects completely unrelated to trans.

This is so chilling. I admire anyone who has spoken out publicly about these issues. Kathleen Stock, if you read this, you are such a huge heroine. Thank you. Your work matters.

And so far it's all women as far as I can tell. Which is telling.

Jesus I'm only on to number 9 and I feel hopelessly depressed that any academic can ever comment again on gender/ sex in a way that doesn't align with twaw tmam without any fear of rebuttal.

"Group think" is certainly a useful term to describe what's going on. And paranoia; I cannot understand how these tiny things have blown out of proportion.

Yes and no. It’s more akin to eugenics to me because that too was seen as progressive.

Yes, it was heavily promoted by the Fabian Society.

Shocking stuff.

Academic freedom and press freedom are the bedrock of a democracy.

Yes and no. It’s more akin to eugenics to me because that too was seen as progressive.

It really is the new McCarthyism.

Oops! 2919 should read as 2010, obviously!

knowing what’s going on in other institutions is hugely important.

Indeed .. and knowing that our public institutions are ignoring UK law and not referring to or upholding UK law is even more hugely important.

This wilful ignoring of UK law applies to most of not all of our public institutions, not just the Higher Education sector.

Parts of the NHS ignore UK Equality Act 2010 law; parts of the police services ignore UK Equality Act 2010 law; parts of the Justice system ignore UK Equality Act 2010 law; parts of the voluntary / charity sector [aka third sector] ignore UK Equality Act 2010 law; some UK politicians ignore UK law; parts of the Education sector ignore UK Equality Act 2010 law; parts of local government ignores UK Equality Act 2010 law.

You may be able to add more organisations / institutions who ignore UK Equality Act 2919 law.

Horrible and all too familiar. I know more than one of these situations and know the enormous stress involved. Kathleen Stock is amazing for putting this together. There really is safety in numbers and knowing what’s going on in other institutions is hugely important. Comparing notes, offering support and exchanging practical information has always been vital to feminism and remains so now as there’s so little support from our institutions and our union.

OK folks: the facts are these:

1 There is no such thing as "self-ID"; it has zero meaning in UK law, so you are at zero risk of any legal or any other punitive action for speaking against such a notion.

2 Compelled use of "pronouns", the notion of so-called "mis-gendering" and so-called "dead-naming" have no relevance in UK law. [To comply with the demand for such speech is a personal matter of what is considered by some to be basic courtesy but it is not illegal.]

3 No-one can compel you to believe in any ideology.

4 No-one can compel you to use specific language.

5 Stonewall's and its associated lobby organisations' definitions relating to transgenderist ideology are not UK law and so can be ignored in all respects.

6 UK law defines the two sexes as:

man = a male of any age
woman = a female of any age
[section 212 Equality Act 2010] www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/212

7 UK law defines sexual orientation thus:

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/12

See also the more explicit Explanatory Notes: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/notes/division/3/2/1/9

[So current UK "Pride" parades are ignoring UK law when it comes to the definition of lesbians.]

There is more about the "transgenderism" agenda in the UK that ignores UK law but this is enough to be going on with for now.

RO Waves, with affection!