Professor Michele Moore

[GCmiddle]

Hi, I just signed up to post this...I don't know if Michele is on here or if anyone here knows her, but I think she could do with a bit of support right now. TRAs are trying to get her sacked from her editorship of a well respected journal, Disability and Society. There is a petition circulating, signed by hundreds of academics and disability rights activists, mostly from US and Canada, but a few from the UK too. All day members of the journal's editorial board have been resigning their positions ie they are supporting the petition and demanding Michele's removal on the grounds of transphobia. it's a pile-on of the worst kind.
I am not on Twitter and don't know how else to contact Michele to offer support. She is not appearing on Northumbria University's website, so I don't know how to contact her...if anyone knows her, please do reach out to her...she is being treated shockingly. I'm really upset about it.

I've just sent this which is a bit of a mn cut and paste job from previous posts but feel free to amend and use

Dear Ian

I'm writing to you in support of Professor Michele Moore.

I am terribly concerned about the increase in these academic witch hunts for anyone who expresses a difference of opinion about gender and sex in this current climate, especially those made in support of natal born women.

It is my understanding that academics such as Professor Moore should be free to express opinions and comment of matters of public interest. If academics are hounded out of editorial posts, it will have a cascading effect of shaping what is published (or not). Surely that makes the quality of academic publishing poorer?

My concern is also that this insidious campaign extends not only to trying to get Moore removed, but refusing to review papers for the journal as long as she remains in post.

It is hard enough to get peer reviews as they are created with goodwill and not paid - so to start suggesting that one should not review if one editor holds different views to you is a slippery slope. The only consideration when deciding to do a review (aside from if you can spare the time and most people accept as necessary for academic scholarship to be rigorous) should be if you are qualified in the field.

I am trying to think of a parallel where I would refuse to review for a journal because I disagreed with the politics of an editorial board member. I do not think it would cross my mind to check. It is a concerning trend.

It seems to me that someone has gone out of their way to work how to damage Moore for speaking publicly on this topic, presuming that her university is supporting the right of its academics to freedom of thought and speech and trying to get her fired is not an option.

Please consider this view as it is one of many in the academic community and beyond but so many (women especially) are too frightened to say what they really think about this matter for fear for reprisals.

I urge you not to support this unnecessary and unpleasant attack on Professor Michele Moore.

Emailed.
What the hell have we come to?

Just posting because unless I missed it, nobody had linked to the petition against Moore, which is here:

www.ipetitions.com/petition/ds

The first thing they criticise her for is disputing claims about trans suicide rates, but they make no attempt to demonstrate that the claims are TRUE. Might be worth mentioning in emails to Taylor and Frances that the Tavi has said that suicide amongst trans kids is extremely rare

Done

Emailed

Not sure why I was tagged, though happy to be reminded. I had already written. Mob rule must not happen.

20 minutes left and bump!

I've just emailed [email protected]

Done. Just in time.

Thanks. have just sent it.

I've written too, just under the wire.

I have emailed. Fucking furious about this. It is absolutely shameful and it is a witch hunt.

I emailed earlier on. Enough of this crap

I've had a reply to the email I sent last night via the T&F website:

Dear Cassian,

Many thanks for your email. We appreciate your interest and concern in this.

We are currently working with the Disability and Society editorial board on this, putting in place what we believe to be the best, most positive course of action to take from here.

Whilst we work through this, both ourselves and the academic editorial team appreciate your support.

not sure really what to take from that.

Have also just emailed rather hurriedly.

Am I imagining things, or had Julian Vigo signed a petition to get Michele sacked? And if I'm not, I wonder why?

It must be accidental. Julian Vigo has written to T&F to register her concern at the hounding of Michele:

mobile.twitter.com/lubelluledotcom/status/1141636289806118913

Julian Vigo, Germany. Is that her or someone else? I have messaged Julian.

It will be a TRA signing under her name, to troll. Like the one who calls himself Cathy Brennan..

There are other GC women's names on that list I recognise. Right at the bottom. That is sinister.

There were a few accidental signings this morning - the petition was shared by someone explaining what was going on, and a few GC women signed by mistake, seeing the post about a petition and assuming it was supporting Michele.

I imagine Julian Vigo may have been one of them.

If anyone knows how to retract your name from this petition, that could be useful into!