Anyone else work at a Uni?

Also, may I just lend my moral support to you all. I left academia 10 years ago, and in those 10 years have watched, from the outside, as it went batshit. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to have been inside while this happened.

Anyone have their bingo cards out? I spot “intersex” and “assigned at birth”…

Just seen this from Keele University SU

Now is bound to be the high point of public pronouncements of support/alarm/disgust. It won’t disappear, but it will lose momentum.

@Unluckyjim it is easy ti feel alone in this as people are so scared to speak up. I have found a network of people who understand both biology and the law but until I found them I felt I was going mad.

You can see from this thread that there are realists all over the sector and there will be lots at your institution- probably the vast majority, but they are cowed by the chilling effect of this ideology

Keep posting here and know you are not alone

I’m feeling pretty upset, frightened and despondent. And alone, very alone!

Yep. Us too.

Lots of people on there confused about the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions

I’ve just read that letter. I had hoped the SC ruling would be a wake up call. Several from my uni. No one I know.

But at over 2000 signatures, it is depressing to contemplate how willing these intelligent academics are to throw women’s rights, safety, dignity and privacy under the bus to appease men.

Anti-trans campaigners say they want to exclude trans women from women’s spaces in order to protect cis women. We do not need protection from trans people…. That’s great for them, but what about some thought for women who do need that protection?

And we need the state to stop the violence that trans people face at the hands of cis men and cis women… and tough for women who face violence at the hands of trans women?

We unequivocally reject the idea that women can be defined by their biology, a claim which is neither feminist nor scientific...Lord save us from academics who refute that biology is not scientific!

Yeah, this. I wonder if we're at the same place. 😂

It's interesting that the different universities on this thread seem to be dealing with it differently.

Ours did make a mention in the statement about "strong and diverse views" or similar so at least they appear to understand that people will have different views on this.

Management at my place has made a very one sided statement about supporting trans people in this difficult time. And the women’s network has made a statement saying we are all very sad and stating they will remain an ‘inclusive’ network. I haven’t checked the trans or lgbt networks. (Yes that’s right we have both, so yes that does mean trans women’s interests are represented by three separate staff networks.)

My university changed their LGBT policy pages the day of the OfS fining of Sussex. The SC ruling just cements that.

Oh dear, several of my close colleagues are signatories ... all of the #bekind contingent.

I think I'm at the same Uni @PhunkychickenI wasn't in that meeting but caught up with it on Teams yesterday and saw your question which was well worded. It was up to about 12 likes by yesterday but I agree it is so depressing how strident the activist voice is.

We haven’t been sent this in my area but this isn’t the first time this has happened. Can you share if there is a website link to access this (without outing the university we both appear to work at)? I would really like to contribute my two pennorth to that!

I'm afraid all I've got is the hearsay of a comment from another user in the comments section of a Daily Telegraph article (screenshot attached) who said that the reason why so many sporting organisations have hurriedly announced new policies in the last couple of weeks is because their PLI would be void if they didn't. I did try to google for confirmation but couldn't find anything - perhaps they notified each affected customer privately rather than doing a press release? - presumably because the Insurers didn't want to be the target of a baying mob of TRAs, but also didn't want to be carrying the liability for the legal bill when the inevitable court cases start landing? This is why I suggested it could be phrased as a question just asking for confirmation, rather than aserting this admitted hearsay as truth.

What my googling did find was that LoL pupblished a guide to trans inclusivity from an insurance PoV a few years ago, and the web page that it was previously published on no longer exists, and all links to it are broken, which is good.

Jeez-Louise.

But, sadly, nobody has asked me to sign. I just messaged DH to check if he was invited to sign and got a "WTF is this drivel and why have you asked something so ridiculous? " so they've missed out on 2 actual working research scientists here. And on a skim-read, none of the numerous biologists that we collaborate with around the globe either. Must be a special biology club for Righteous folx.

Have you got a link to any relevant statements from insurance providers? This would be a v useful question for me to ask, but it would be a huge help to have evidence.

I no longer work at a university - thank goodness. I don't think I would be able to tolerate the parade of competitive performancy allyship that my former department has become.

For those of you who are impatient to see thier universities revise their policies now that the law has been clarified - the key question to raise at whatever committees you have access to is this:

"Can we get confirmation that our Public Liability Insurance is still valid - because apparently the biggest providers of PLI have declared that all PLI arrangements are void for any organisation whice has a policy of allowing transwomen into female single-sex spaces"

You can ask this question without outing yourself as GC, if you are trying to keep your head low.

Universities have to have valid Public Liability Insurance. If they can't get written confirmation from their insurers that their insurance is still valid in conjunction with their published policies, they will have to change their policies.

Yes I will be moving to that building soon Agree that the gender neutral toilets there do seem to deal with the toilets situation there without having to confront the issue head on. That may have been part of the attraction of choosing that particular building as I believe they were put in by the previous tenants. Will be interesting to see what happens in the refurbs of buildings on the main campus that are upcoming.

This issue is affecting all staff, it would take a brave administrator, cleaner, librarian, technician to speak out.

The problem with relying on tribunals is that it puts the onus on individual academics to put their careers on the line. Few are willing to do that, especially if they hope to stay in the profession.