Threat to freedom of speech, Oxford university

Why debate when you can just yell

It's surprisingly effective, requires no effort, and brings you lots of valorisation for courage from your supportive peers.

Why debate when you can just yell "transphobes!"?

Of course there are lots of lovely young people too just working hard and getting on with their lives - but I think the problem is that they're scared to speak up - so you get ridiculous situations like this one.

I think many of them also just roll their eyes and avoid these people.

''We heard evidence of attempts by students to no platform leading feminists and LGBT activists with a lengthy pedigree in campaigning for LGBT rights simply because they had defended the idea of women-only space''

publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt201719/jtselect/jtrights/589/589.pdf

The Joint Committee on Human Rights published the report of its inquiry into Freedom of Speech in Universities in 2018, as a result the govt introduced fines for universities that stifle free speech. The college could find itself on the wrong side of the law.

P 21 onwards;
Freedom of Speech in Universities

42. In our view, freedom of expression is unduly interfered with: • when protests become so disruptive that they prevent the speakers from speaking or intimidate those attending; • if student groups are unable to invite speakers purely because other groups protest and oppose their appearance; and • if students are deterred from inviting speakers by complicated processes and bureaucratic procedures.

publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt201719/jtselect/jtrights/589/589.pdf

That said, I can understand that it must be a bit at least difficult when your diagnosed medical condition is the subject of such scrutiny and negative opinion.

Isn't it good then that this isn't what's happening?

Few of us are scrutinising, criticising or analysing gender dysphoria. And the vast majority of women's rights campaigners go out of their way to express empathy with and sympathy for those diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

What we are arguing against is the policy of deciding access to female-only provisions not on the basis of sex, but on the basis of which straitjacket of sex stereotypes and sex role stereotypes you think fits you best.

As women's rights campaigners here in Scotland, we spend remarkably little time scrutinising gender dysphoria and we certainly don't waste our time holding negative opinions about its sufferers. We focus entirely on arguing why female-only provisions must stay female-only and what harm it does to women and girls to have males (however they identify) imposed onto or encroaching into our spaces.

FYI, the vast majority of the males who identify as trans today do not have a medical diagnosis (less than 20% according to GIRES), so we'd really be wasting our time scrutinising the condition.

There does seem to be a sizeable minority of super entitled young people who really do seem to think that people holding different opinions to them makes their space 'unsafe'. It's ridiculous. They need to get out into the real world - maybe volunteer at a foodbank and see how little the people using it care about pronouns or other peoples identities.

Of course there are lots of lovely young people too just working hard and getting on with their lives - but I think the problem is that they're scared to speak up - so you get ridiculous situations like this one.

twitter.com/transactionox/status/1219971684742172673

"The Validation Monologues"

Very clever

Be interesting to see if they change their change of heart when the TRAs start shouting.

Despite the update about apparent change of heart.

Ffs! I'm so fucked off with this! What is wrong with our universities? Trying to stifle freedom of speech and critical thinking? What are we trying to do to our young people?

That's all well and good, but when the predictable lot start up with the predictable complaint about how the other side makes them feel "unsafe", I wonder what'll become of "robust expression of opinion and debate".

What is a thin-film material scientist?

I'm going to take an informed guess that Dr CB is looking for a certain type of equity in STEM.

I suppose what I'd ask is if people can picture Oxford having a similar kind of approach to a talk regarding another group. Like something about black identities, or Muslim identities, etc?

I don't have any idea, does anyone involved there have any thoughts?

I think the majority of trans people would be happy to welcome factual debate and are likely to have no wish to silence anybody. That said, I can understand that it must be a bit at least difficult when your diagnosed medical condition is the subject of such scrutiny and negative opinion. All that said, this may be draconian but, in my personal opinion in general, the U.K. media, in particular, the Times, the Mail, the Sun, Sky news, and even the Guardian would struggle evidentially to prove quant actively that on the balance of their articles that they are complicit in silencing the GC position.

Looks like #nodebate means exactly that #nodebateaboutanything

I saw someone on Twitter suggested it should be called "The Validation Monologues" instead of "The Equality Conversation"

It is arguable that since the event is strictly about trans identities then they don't want anything to happen that might undermine those. But the way to do that would be for Merton to say "since we're having a closed thinking event, for balance we're also going to have a separate open thinking event".

From the article:

Merton College has advertised its upcoming “Equality Conversation” event which it says will explore “perspectives on trans intersectionality”.

Have a look at the speakers to see how open it's going to be:

www.merton.ox.ac.uk/event/merton-equality-conversation-2020-perspectives-trans-intersectionality

Oxford was the most misogynist environment I have ever been unfortunate enough to live in and it is no surprise to me that they have found a new way to squash women.