NUS Conference breaks down after the UK Border Force Arrive

[DJLippy]

The following is made up from tweets from the #NUStrans18 conference which seems to have gone slightly awry after the gender neutral toilet signs were removed. They'd been stuck up the day before, converting the women's bathroom to the gender neutral bathroom, so that they'd have 'men's toilets' and 'non-men's toilets.'
Thing's started innocently enough

"I am fucking fuming
Once again food is a mess. Vegan option was a total after thought many of us can't eat it due to allergies and IBS. So what are we supposed to eat for lunch? Leaves. #NUStrans18"

Some bright spark at the hotel scheduled a simultaneous conference for the UK Border Patrol and that's when things started to heat up

"The gender neutral signs at #NUStrans18 have dissapeared entirely, I'm blaming the border force, in the meantime I have awkwardly trudged into the womens toilet that used to be gender neutral. Cue enby screaming"

"#NUStrans18 is one of the few places we feel relatively safe but now here we are on edge because UK Brdr F*rce are here."

They decided to take matters into their own hands

"Currently in occupation of the bathroom lobby #bathroomcaucus #nustrans18"

"Be careful of slippery floors in the gender neutral bathroom - we have some cis tears 💦 #BathroomCaucus #Toiletgate #NUSTrans18"

cis tears or man piss?

"#NUStrans18 white people can we PLEASE listen to POC about engaging with the border force"

"#nustrans18 so update on what happened in the bathroom caucus: We were guarding the gender neutral sign, but weren’t in the way of the doors or anything
And a cis woman came in (not even to pee), saw the sign and went off 2/??
She started saying ‘what about our toilets’ to which we informed her that the gender neutral toilets are for everyone, and if she was uncomfortable she could use the women’s upstairs
She starts shouting ‘one at a time! Respect my authority! We’re here for longer than you!’"

"whoever occupied the bathrooms, you gonna apologise to your POC delegates? #nustrans18"

"great lil update from Finn on #BathroomCaucus these people are attempting to deny our right to pee and we were simply defending that, we were just minding our own business, she’s the one that got angry and aggressive and in our faces #NUSTrans18"

"#nustrans18 I sincerely apologise if mine or any other delegates actions escalated conflict/racism towards QTPOC. The thing is, I honestly don’t know what else I could have done? I didn’t provoke her, I didn’t get in her face."

"I'd like to apologise formally for the misunderstanding and poor handling of the situation that happened in the past hour. We never set out to aggrivate anyone or intended to cause unnecessary stress. I'm extremely sorry #NUStrans18"

Then identity politic work battles begin.

"I want to sincerely apologise for the statement I delivered post-motions at #NUSTrans18. It was insensitive given the nature of the situation regarding QPOC discrimination at the event. I'm autistic and completely failed in my reading of the tone of the room, but it's no excuse."

"Okay so white people at #nustrans18, us PoC are very, very exhausted from dealing with all the racist microaggressions here. We need reparations so please send us pizza, snacks, cigarettes, chocolate, dinner money etc. My PayPal is "

I'm sorry if people find this reporting offensive because they're young and vulnerable youth but might I remind you that these students represent our future elites. In 20 years time they'll be writing our laws. Also, it's f%cking hilarious. See, this tweet they're pretty succinct

"NB: Some of the motions at #NUStrans18 could be interpreted as attacking women’s rights/protections, or even as anti-feminist “hate speech”. The response is a bit of criticism and piss-taking on twitter NOT attempts to close down and disrupt the event, or pickets by masked thugs."

The NUS Needs to have a word with itself. If these students are vulnerable and this explains their behaviour then should they really be voting on issues which affect the entire student body? Are they being used as pawns in someone else's agenda?

morningstaronline.co.uk/article/women-have-every-right-discuss-changes-law-could-affect-them

Rebecca Lush writes, "in those 26 years of protest-organising I have never witnessed anything like the authoritarian, silencing tendency of current trans activism against women meeting to discuss their legal rights."

[continues]
"We arrived late and thankfully most people were already inside the venue. Suddenly a group of approximately 50 students descended and immediately blocked the door to the meeting house to deter anyone from entering. They started chanting very loudly and aggressively. What happened next was utterly shameful.

I witnessed an older Quaker volunteer telling the students that they were disturbing a sexual abuse survivors’ group which happened to be taking place in the building at the same time and the students simply shouted louder to drown out his words.

This Quaker man became very upset and frustrated at the lack of respect accorded to him and the contempt with which he and the survivors’ group were treated.

The female co-ordinator of the survivors’ group came out and tried to speak, but none of the students would listen. They just continued their chants to drown her out. I spoke to a number of the students around me and asked the male leader with the megaphone whether he would communicate to the rest of the protesters that a meeting of sexual abuse survivors was being disrupted and his exact words were “we don’t care.”

There was something uniquely obnoxious about a privileged male Oxford student telling women that they didn’t care about sexual abuse survivors and that women need to get back in their box as they had no right to speak."

What an utterly obnoxious entitled prick.

Claire Fox's interview with Julia H-B yesterday at about 09:20 is important to listen to with regards free speech / no platforming in universities. It is discussed specifically in relation to feminists and Linda Bellos.

The comment about how it was dismissed by an NUS spokesperson as 'not happening and tabloid-fodder' is notable & perhaps more consideration of the overlap between NUS Women's/LGBT+/Trans officers needed.

"Claire Fox (director of free speech think-tank Academy of Ideas),
agreed with the assertion that speech was being curtailed in universities.

“I think there are culture wars on campus. Many students don’t like the censorious atmosphere – they feel they have to walk on eggshells, and it’s dangerous, this call-out culture,” she said.

“We’ve seen the offence culture and people being outraged spreading outside of university campuses.”

She claimed that the National Union of Students (NUS), downplays the no-platforming culture she says is prevalent.

“One of the most annoying things is a denial that is going on.

“I did a debate at Trinity College in Cambridge last night on this very topic and the NUS speaker was very clear – ‘this is made-up, tabloid, scaremongering’.

“There’s a real danger of people denying this is happening because they don’t even see they’re doing it, which is even more worrying to me.

“They think this is a perfectly legitimate thing to do and that it’s fine to say, ‘we’ll choose who we have as a speaker, it’s all very reasonable’, without recognising the chilling impact it’s having.”

talkradio.co.uk/radio/listen-again/1525325400#

Also in what way did A Woman's Place "attempt to limit trans discussion?"

I know! Women talked about women's rights. Women's rights are antithetical to transgender and men's rights.
also too and besides
3rd rule of misogyny: Women speaking for themselves are exclusionary and selfish.

Did Claire Fox mention that no-platforming has spread off-campus and covers all discussion students don't approve of, wherever it is?

Good point.

Also in what way did A Woman's Place "attempt to limit trans discussion?". Who had protestors outside and got the venues cancelled again? That's a next level DARVO.

Bingo. Why do you think im making a point about saying try to be respectful to certain visitors....

Can see it coming a mile off.

When it becomes apparent that a debate is going to have to happen it will be made out that debate has not been allowed. Particularly on MN.

When it becomes apparent that a debate is going to have to happen it will be made out that debate has not been allowed. Particularly on MN.

Yes I see what you mean.

NotTerfNorCis
Claire Fox specifically talked about how this had much wider impact beyond both students and universities. That there was impact in the workplace etc

There is a podcast of another discussion on this issue here (I haven't listened to it):
itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/campus-censorship-notes-from-the-frontline/id1256471964?i=1000409933469&mt=2
www.academyofideas.org.uk

Some in-depth analysis by Rose of Dawn about the NUStrans18 conference.

I think this video raises important issues.

If people with penises aren't scary and it's "only" a toilet then all people with penises should use the men's as it isn't that important and people with penises aren't scary.

Indeed

I thought the word "transsexual" was outdated and transphobic in young queer circles?

It is, except for when they are trying to garner sympathy for their cause. They need to keep pretending that 'trans' means transsexual, else support will drop away. If the general public knew that 'trans; included crossdressers and such and that the fight it to allow these people into female spaces then it would be shut down immediately. The only reason there is support is because most think 'post op transsexual' when these discussions come up. As such, these groups need to keep pretending they are fighting for the rights of transsexual people, rather than giving them names such as truscum and abusing them as much as they abuse women...

The Rose of Dawn video link posted by a pp isn't to the one about the NUS Conference but to an earlier one. It's still definitely worth a watch. This is the NUS one which goes into detail about the motions passed (guilty lol) and how much pressure is coming from non binary activists:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=xcjxAU2EMLg

It is, except for when they are trying to garner sympathy for their cause. They need to keep pretending that 'trans' means transsexual, else support will drop away. If the general public knew that 'trans; included crossdressers and such and that the fight it to allow these people into female spaces then it would be shut down immediately. The only reason there is support is because most think 'post op transsexual' when these discussions come up.

Yes this was my exact assumption. How dishonest and hypocritical they are.

thanks Ereshkigal, I was doing three things at once earlier... one too many!

No worries

I think it raises some important points...

Definitely! IMO non binary is the more dangerous position for women's rights. And the most ludicrous.

Also their pushing of unrelated far left political positions under the banner of trans rights.

It seems to me that there may be a lot of links here to wider issues currently being discussed including free speech on campus, appropriate healthcare for children & young people who are questioning their gender identity, Maria Maclaughlan's assault & court case... & more!

I'm reminded of @angrybirdradfem's comment after the protests at WPUK in Oxford about 'the bullied becoming the bullies'.

If the general public knew that 'trans; included crossdressers

My suggestion is that we should start referring to the trans umbrella and that it includes crossdressers and other fetishists.

I think referring to the ‘trans umbrella’ instead of transgender is a very good idea.

Yes!

I agree. It is the point where people realize that the trans umbrella covers males with fetishes that the alarm bells go off.

So there are Men and NonMen now catered for and that's it. Women have to fit into one of those groups.

It is such utter shite, all of it. If we have to cater for them, let's have Women, Men and Anything Else You Wish to Be, Then those of us who would like to self-identify as a unicorn would be catered for too.