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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Raquel Rosario Sanchez in Telegraph

9 replies

severnboring · 18/02/2021 10:23

www.telegraph.co.uk/education-and-careers/2021/02/17/bullied-standing-free-speech-university-now-suing/

For many inquisitive young minds in Britain’s universities, it’s a familiar path: dare to express an argument or invite a speaker to campus that challenges woke zealotry, hoping in vain for an intellectual exchange, and you are likely tofind yourself ‘cancelled’.

Raquel Rosario-Sanchez, a PhD student, encountered ‘cancel culture’ weeks after enrolling at Bristol University, while preparing to chair a panel discussion about the distinction between gender and biological sex.

“Trans activiststudents pounced on me and began a sustained campaign of intimidation to silence me,” she said. “Gender belongs to my academic field, but they wanted to make it clear that this was a forbidden topic and nobody was allowed to speak about it.”

The 31-year-old, from the Dominican Republic, filed a bullying complaint to her universityabout the activists in 2018, and over the following months says she was targeted by “masked protesters” and threatened withbeing hit with eggs.

“I’ve read that I should be punched and turfed out of England. Trans activists have called for my deportation,” she told The Telegraph. "I’ve been called ‘terf[trans-exclusionary radical feminist], scum, trash, nasty, bigot, heinous and sickening’, during periodic campaigns of vilification targeting every feminist event I participated in, over a span of almost two years.”

Her academic progress stalled as a result, leaving her visa on the line. She is now suing her university over its decision to drop the bullying probe. For Ms Rosario-Sanchez, the “rising intolerance” within universities,denounced this week byGavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, almost meant losing everything.

OP posts:
Manderleyagain · 18/02/2021 10:38

Thanks for the extract. Who are the other 2 students?

I wonder how her legal case is going?

severnboring · 18/02/2021 10:49

She says on Twitter she has a court date and will be updating:

twitter.com/8RosarioSanchez/status/1360733514115735552

That reminds me to do some gardening...

the others are (ironically) a Masters student who started a free speech soc at Bristol and a first year at Falmouth who replied to an email from their student union about Black History Month saying he'd rather jump down a mineshaft and got summoned to a disciplinary.

''So far has the censorship seeped, even student free speech groups feel stifled. Bristol University's free speech society - one of several to spring up on UK campuses in recent years - has stopped running heterodox debates, said Izzy Posen, its founder. But why? “Out of fear of facing backlash and isolation, which is a very rational and credible fear.”

The 25-year-old masters student said the “constant fights that we had to put up with for every event that we tried to organise wore us down”, not least dealing with protests, activists’ threats, having to shell out hundreds of pounds on private security guards and an “air of fear” pervading campus.

“Personally I find the orthodoxy suffocating,” he added. “Anecdotally, seminar tutors start seminars on controversial issues by reminding students not to say things that might hurt others, rather than by encouraging students to speak up, especially if their view is refreshing, novel and unorthodox… I know that I cannot speak my views in seminars or among academic colleagues. I have heard my own tutors casually joke around in academic settings when referencing views that I hold, that people with these views are ‘awful people’.”

Thomas Inns, a first-year student at Falmouth University, was summoned to a disciplinary hearing in October after replying to an email from the students’ union president celebratingBlack History Monthwith the remark, “I’d rather jump down a mineshaft”. He was suspended from the union for more than a month.''

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highame · 18/02/2021 15:35

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/times-letters-protecting-freedom-of-speech-in-universities-3j9ks8kcp

Letters to the editor (Times today) on free speech. Stonewall gets mention from Selina Todd's letter. Hope someone has a share token

This could also do with a bump

impossibletoday · 18/02/2021 21:38

Sir, Further to your report “Minister hits out at campuses that ‘stifle freedom of speech’ ” (Feb 17), to promote free speech in universities the government must curb the undue influence of lobby groups such as Stonewall. My institution, like many universities (and the Department of Education), is a “Stonewall Diversity Champion”. Membership requires the adoption of policies that undermine freedom to debate.

Oxford University’s equalities policies, which are typical of the sector, claim “gender identity” is “assigned at birth” and define women as a “gender” rather than as a sex — which we legally are, under the Equality Act 2010. This is an ideological stance rather than evidence-based policy. It leaves those of us whose teaching and scholarship concern women, or rely on sex-disaggregated data, open to complaint and attack for our lawful view that biological sex exists.

Universities, and the government, cannot uphold free speech while championing such policies.

Selina Todd
Professor of modern history, University of Oxford

Mulletsaremisunderstood · 06/04/2021 20:15

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Mulletsaremisunderstood · 06/04/2021 20:17

Hmm, I tried to post a link to Raquel's crowdfunder but it isn't showing up.

Just bumping this for anyone who wants to donate to Raquel as there are only a few days left for her to reach her target. If you go to CrowdJustice and search her name it should come up.

Lordamighty · 06/04/2021 20:22

@Mulletsaremisunderstood you are not allowed to post links to crowdfunders. You can drop hints & pointers though 😉

Mulletsaremisunderstood · 06/04/2021 21:03

Oops Blush sorry! Thanks for the heads up Smile

Terranean · 06/04/2021 23:00

Best of luck to Raquel. The wokeratti really behave like intolerant totalists. My view is the only view and you would do well not to challenge it. Hmm

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