A Woman's Place meeting Oxford 25 Oct

[RadFemsUnite]

A Woman's Place is at the Lectern. 'This meeting will focus on academic freedom and the current issues being faced by women in particular'
Raquel Rosario Sanchez, Selina Todd, Susan Williams. Chair: Allison Bailey. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-womans-place-is-at-the-lectern-tickets-75579284675

There is a thread of tweets from the meeting here threadreaderapp.com/thread/1187796895076356098.html

Seems quite detailed.

And there are still tweets being added to twitter.com/hashtag/WPUKOxford

Glad it was hassle free.

I hear there was a great intervention from a trans widow (not me for once!) I'd love to know who it was? Do get in touch if anybody here knows them.

I handed her a note but she’s ‘in the know’.

I was very angry about the way the trans widow was shut down by the chair. Once again trans widows being excluded from so called feminist discourse in favour of certain favoured males.

That really angered me, and then again at the end of the meeting when the chair made a big deal of congratulating TRAs and thanking them for not threatening and intimidating women, as if they’d done us a special favour rather than just living up to baseline human decency.

There was a lot of dickpandering I saw after that meeting last night and it made me feel very uncomfortable.

That’s interesting. What do you mean that she was shut down? These are the very women at the “coal face” that we should all be listening to surely?

That is unfair. The trans widow asked what could be done to repeal the GRA and to remove gender reassignment as a protected characteristic. Alison Bailey made a point of saying that we needed to hear the voices of trans widows and their stories more and she has spoken to others and heard about the distress they suffer. She then said that trans people did need to retain protections under the equality act. She might have disagreed with, or not wanted to get into discussion re removing gender reassignment as a protected characteristic but I wouldn’t describe that as shutting the trans widow down. Did she say something else that I missed? Happy to hear you out but that hadn’t been my impression. I also thought it was quite savvy to thank trans action for behaving themselves this time!

I liked what Allison Bailey said. She's a collaborator, in a good way. The aim can't be for everyone to agree, that's never going to happen. We have to find a legal and social framework that allows people who are vulnerable in different ways to be protected from unfair discrimination. I don't want trans people sacked for transitioning, or for spouses of transitioners to have no say on what happens to their own marriage. Nor do I want women forced to accept male bodied people as women. To get anywhere we have to find common ground while still disagreeing.

Article in The Times today about the appalling TRA pile-on directed towards Alison Bailey, including death threats. I'm afraid I don't have a share token.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lesbian-barrister-my-bosses-bowed-to-transgender-hate-mob-shm6x09v8

There’s a share token on the ‘I stand with Allison Bailey‘ thread.

What an amazing event. Just coming down from it now. Met so many great feminists and it was brilliant to have the meeting in such a central and prestigious university building!

Have people seen the Cherwell student newspaper? Had to give right to reply to WPUK after printing a very one-sided article.

Did they? that's good. I haven't seen it but will look out for a copy.

Article here: cherwell.org/2019/10/25/oxford-stands-against-transphobia/

What a woolly statement from Hilda’s. Is there a specific reason that a representative of the College can’t plainly state support of one of their senior academics?

Further statement from Trans Action Oxford:
twitter.com/transactionox/status/1188835761879179264

Solidarity with Selina Todd.

A counter statement from an attendee from WPUK (sorry, long, but so was that letter!):

Let's start with the positives.
I was thrilled to be amongst many women, and some men, who turned out in solidarity with WPUK. I was deeply moved to see that Oxford allows women's rights to still be debated in the city. The extraordinary turnout and enthusiasm demonstrated beyond any doubt that people still stand in solidarity with women's rights. Together we reminded the city that women's rights are important.

Friday night didn't bring much disappointment. I saw people with another viewpoint gather, but thankfully not to intimidate women this time (it's not a good look, is it!) but to state their point of view, which is fine. I wasn't shocked that WPUK were told by the venue they needed to book security - past experience would show that was necessary.

(By the way, we walked past the trans activists as they were setting up. Funnily enough, we demonstrated no violence against them, no comment even - I did wonder whether the one with the bandana already covering their face may be doing so to not be recognisable to their mum! Who might have been also walking by, in the rain, on their way to WPUK! There is 0 evidence of violence against trans activists demonstrating WPUK meetings, so why such precautions need to be taken is baffling. Hey demonstrators, if you'd also bought a ticket you'd have been warm, in from the rain, and able to hear and take part in the conversation with us - just like the non-binary person who spoke did)

In short, I was happy that, in hosting WPUK, the university reinstated the importance of women's rights. Now, more than ever, the university needs to listen to the message of frustration, empathy and defiance sent by women, both staff, students (waves to you lovely young women) and non-students/staff .

We know that a staggering 98% of trans students at the University have experienced mental health issues. As have many of those attending - we want to support you,. From what I understand, the University of Oxford didn't spend a significant amount on [security] (no evidence of 'harm' apart from speaking another view/facts} WPUK bore the costs (I may be wrong on this one, but it's what I heard).

There's little irony that by welcoming WPUK it shows trans people the door. The person who asked the first question identified as non-binary - I saw no 'door-shutting', their question was invited and addressed.

I'm going 'off letter' reply now. For goodness sake. You're Oxford University students. If you can't handle debate, what do you stand for? All those blokes in the big pictures staring down at us in the meeting room in their thigh boots and leggings - do you protest them? Do they offend your senses? They did mine, a little! Not because of the leggings, but because of the sheer domination of male pictures in the room! And the evident changes over the centuries of what defines 'maleness' in costume was fascinating. You should have joined us - I'd have loved a conversation about that!

And as for your attack on Selina. Selina delivered a blistering analysis of women in education, particularly working class women.
Your statement Todd refuses to grant transwomen the same status as cisgender women?

Get a fucking grip of yourself. Listen to Selina's talk once it's up on WPUK. Go read some history.

Students who identify as trans deserve to be treated respectfully, kindly, and free of harrassment. But transwomen are not women.

docs.google.com/document/d/1gB-AfMrTl_SI7ktzTN-bRm8_bKEhbzHBnDg3Y_uEDtA/edit

For those who are blocked on Twitter, like me.
*
Statement condemning the University of Oxford’s failure to support its trans students and staff
28 October 2019

We would like to start with the positives. We were thrilled to see hundreds of people turn out to our Trans Solidarity Demo on Friday. We were deeply moved to see the people of Oxford show that transphobia of any kind is not welcome in our city. The extraordinary turnout and enthusiasm demonstrates beyond any doubt that students and residents of Oxford stand in solidarity with the trans community. Together, we will drive transphobia out of our city.

And yet, Friday night brought great disappointment and frustration. We were appalled to see that the Women’s Place UK event was hosted by the University of Oxford in its Examination Schools. We were even more shocked that they provided the group with security. While staff and students of the University stood in the rain in solidarity with trans people, the University itself endorsed and protected a group which has shown time and time again its disdain for trans identities, and its desire to erode our rights.

In short, we were all devastated by the news that, in hosting A Woman’s Place UK, the University of Oxford tacitly endorsed its transphobia. Now, more than ever, the University needs to listen to the message of frustration, empathy and defiance sent by trans students and staff, as well as those who stood alongside us, at the demo.

We know that a staggering 98% of trans students at the University of Oxford have experienced mental health issues. It is beyond outrageous that the University has spent a significant sum on protecting those who harm us, when it fails time and time again to invest sufficiently in welfare and support for trans students and staff.

The irony is particularly acute when you consider that to welcome transphobes into the University is to show trans students and staff the door. It is to make them feel alienated, disrespected and lacking in institutional support. It is simply unacceptable that the University has facilitated the spread of transphobia within its own institutions. Any policies and procedures which allowed this to happen need a swift and radical reconsideration.

This is not the first time that the University has played host to transphobes. In 2012, Exeter College hosted, and provided security for, the transphobic group Christian Concern. Neither is it the first time this week that the University has invited harmful groups to the city; on Monday, it welcome representatives of Glencore, a company heavily implicated in the climate crisis. The University of Oxford must do better to challenge regressive and hateful ideologies.

We are also deeply critical of the University’s continued support of Professor Selina Todd of St Hilda’s College. Todd was a speaker at Friday’s event, and is a key figure in the organisation’s campaign of transphobia. Todd refuses to grant trans women the same status as cisgender women. A person who is so openly transphobic should not be in the University’s employment, let alone in a teaching position where she is directly interacting with students, some of them trans. Her presence in this University is directly detrimental to their well-being and safety.

Put simply, the University is not doing enough to support its trans students. Indeed, by welcoming transphobic groups and employing transphobic members of staff, it is actively and seriously harming its trans community.

We demand better.

We demand that the University review its policies, and ensure that groups like A Woman’s Place are never hosted here again. We demand that it review its employment of Selina Todd. We demand, above all, that it invest properly and meaningfully in improving the well-being of its trans students and staff, because right now, it is only furthering our suffering.

Signed,

Trans Action Oxford
A collective of undergraduate and postgraduate students, and staff, of the University of Oxford
*

I have to cling to the hope that most people reading that extended tantrum above will react like me, and have 'Grow up!' as their dominant response. Professor Selina Todd is a huge asset to the university and will, I hope, be protected from this madness. I heard hear speak at a meeting a few months ago and she was excellent. A close relative of mine had the good fortune to be taught by her and thinks very highly of her. Solidarity.

Do these young fools not grasp that nobody's mind was ever changed by standing with your fingers in your ears and your eyes shut shouting 'La la la, not listening!' For this to be the go to response of students at the University of Oxford is astounding.

I am very sorry to hear that so many students who identify as trans have mental health problems and they should of course get support with that. However, does it not occur to any of them or their supporters that the MH problems may predate the trans identification, and/or be caused by the stresses of being a student at one of the top universities in the world?

Christ on a bike! That last paragraph reminds me of when the children were younger and would sit in the shopping trolley shouting “I WANT! I WANT! I WANT!” When they were told no to a toy. They really haven’t grown up, have they!

You're Oxford University students. If you can't handle debate, what do you stand for? All those blokes in the big pictures staring down at us in the meeting room in their thigh boots and leggings - do you protest them? Do they offend your senses? They did mine, a little! Not because of the leggings, but because of the sheer domination of male pictures in the room! And the evident changes over the centuries of what defines 'maleness' in costume was fascinating. You should have joined us - I'd have loved a conversation about that!

Hear hear to that!

Solidarity with Selina Todd.