University of Edinburgh has fallen

[MsF1t]

The forthcoming Research Seminar: Schools and Gender Diversity has been 'postponed' (as in cancelled) by the University after being pressured by the usual suspects. The event information is below:

The Institute for Education, Teaching and Leadership at the University of Edinburgh invites you to a research seminar on schools and gender diversity. Everyone is welcome, and the seminar may be especially relevant to academics, teachers and student teachers, education policy makers, politicians and parents. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion, with all viewpoints welcomed.

Issues around gender diversity and supporting gender-nonconforming and transgender-identifying pupils in schools are complex, sensitive and often controversial. The Scottish Government is currently working on amended guidance for schools on supporting gender non-conforming children and young people, in the context of wider debates on gender diversity. What should that guidance look like? What understandings of sex and gender should inform it? How should we develop curricula, pedagogies, pastoral care and safeguarding practices that will enable all children and young people to interrogate gender norms whilst ensuring that gender-nonconforming and transgender-identifying pupils are safe, supported and included in schools? This research seminar will critically examine some of these questions, and aims to inform and support the ongoing public debate in Scottish education.

Speakers:
Professor Michele Moore: Head of Centre for Social Justice and Global Responsibility, London South Bank University
Stephanie Davies-Arai: Founder of Transgender Trend
Dr Shereen Benjamin: Senior Lecturer in Primary Education, University of Edinburgh

So depressing. I genuinely thought they were better than this, after they stood firm and supported the 'Women's Sex Based Rights' event where Julie Bindel spoke to go ahead.

(Please excuse any dodgy typos, on phone/knackered/fed up.)

Yes, I'm not in academia but do know what you're reporting is the case GCAcademic.

But...this is a long game and we are moving towards the point of saturation and overreach. There is nowhere else for them to go now.

The time may not yet be here but, with sunlight and exposure, things will be changing so hold on in there

Ironically, Edinburgh was the birthplace of the Enlightenment in Britain. Now it seems to be in the vanguard of the anti-Enlightenment movement.

GC. It is tragic what is happening in academia. I wonder how long this intellectually stultifying environment will persist in the very institutions where it should be anathema?

See also Oxford Brookes: Artist Rachel Ara has had her talk cancelled.
www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18045416.artists-talk-cancelled-student-outcry-transphobia/

Brookes LGBTQ+ society said: ""[Ara] has...openly shown support for Selina Todd, who is a strong advocate of A Woman's Place, a transphobic organisation acting under the guise of academic freedom.""

Goody Ara was seen conjuring the devil with Goody Todd!

These institutions need to be held to account for failing to uphold their legal obligations to support free speech. Anyone who works or studies in a university which has no-platformed or cancelled speakers due to pressure from transactivists can follow the processes outlined by the Office for Students:

www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/student-wellbeing-and-protection/freedom-of-speech/

If filing a grievance and going to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator is not feasible (and I imagine it won’t be for most employees) then you can raise a notification with the Office for Students. I suspect managers won’t be so keen to instruct academics to cancel research events once they have to deal with the fines or deregulation that the OfS has the power to impose:

www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/student-wellbeing-and-protection/freedom-of-speech/raising-concerns-about-free-speech/

I've written to Mathieson and Smith encouraging them to find a way to hold this event. Not sure why I bother but we must keep buggering on, right?

Thanks, Rachel. Reading between the lines (and looking at the committee blog and ForWomenScot's twitter feed, the mediation has been so badly mishandled by the University that the organisers have felt compelled to 'postpone' as it had become unmanageable. Effectively, they have been bullied, and it has been allowed and enabled. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they felt it was no longer possible to hold similar events at the Uni, given the climate.

""[Ara] has...openly shown support for Selina Todd, who is a strong advocate of A Woman's Place, a transphobic organisation acting under the guise of academic freedom.""

Jesus wept. They may as well have said "I saw you talking to her in the playground and I'm not friends with her so now I'm not friends with YOU" because that's about the standard of critical thinking on show here. I would be genuinely embarrassed to have that quote attributed to me. Grow the fuck up and realise that someone holding a different opinion to you is not automatically a fucking hate crime.

New article about this in the Times today:

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/university-pulls-trans-forum-amid-safety-fears-z3j228c52?shareToken=7d7089a24207685fa288e1bfd8db8445

Good article. The University's 'jolly good, glad to see threatening women and making the meeting too unsafe to hold worked out for us' is a bit mind blowing.

Mind you, I'm not sure Edinburgh Uni were ever not fallen - wasn't that where Ada was on the student union and Magdalen got thrown out of the LGBT+ soc for being L?

The threats must have been pretty credible if they had nine security guards.

I thought Edinburgh University's LGBT Soc had resigned in protest over Julie Bindel's recent visit? The one where she had to be escorted out of the building and an attempt was made to attack her by that trans person with a beard? Perhaps they didn't like not having the power to dictate who gets heard and who doesn't.

The organisers were told that there was going to be too hostile an environment to hold the event and while there would be nine security guards they couldn’t guarantee the safety of speakers or attendees — most of whom would likely be women — which is pretty terrifying,” the source said

Edinburgh University should be ashamed of themselves for pandering to these totalitarian bullies

A separate incident: the Edinburgh UCU branch has tweeted that it won't allow a teach-out today on sex and gender to be held under its banner:

twitter.com/ucuedinburgh/status/1201863742214098947

But it is, of course, supporting a talk at that notoriously misogynistic bookshop, Lighthouse Books:

twitter.com/ucuedinburgh/status/1201873261308653570

Bloody glad I left the Union now, and also that I convinced some of my colleagues to (they were horrified at UCU's disregard for academic freedom when I told them what had been going on over the last few months).

while the branch supports academic freedom, this event will not be held

Can I get ice and a slice of oxymoronic to go with that?

Ever wondered how "trans inclusive" policies became so common so quickly and with so little debate? I've written about a document that explains the

Good to see James Kirkup linking to his article because the more people know about the Masonic esque shenanigans of this secretive powerful lobby, the better

There seems to be some kickback from the University of Kent. Perhaps it hasn’t been colonized yet?

I have nothing but contempt for these academics/administrators. This is close cousin of book burning. They should hang their heads in shame.

"There seems to be some kickback from the University of Kent." What does this refer to BovaryX? I work there and would be delighted to hear about some GC resistance there...

Can you clarify for all national members and fellow branches, how your branch perceives a talk about sex and gender to contravene national and local equality and inclusion policy? Also how does pulling such a talk actually support academic freedom?

GC, it was only based on this tweet which seemed quite critical of York’s position. But if you’re there, you will know. Is Kent on the same flight path as York?

Update: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/university-pulls-trans-forum-amid-safety-fears-z3j228c52

Ha! See I was beaten to it. That'll larn me to post when sick. :D

As far as i can tell, University of Kent isn't on same flight path as York. In fact, there seems to be relatively little attention paid to Trans related issues, aside from the odd student putting their pronouns on their email signatures. There might be stuff happening that I'm not aware of though...