Students call for professor at University of Southern Maine to be replaced after teaching that there are only two sexes

[TheBiologyStupid]

According to the Bangor Daily News, a newspaper in Maine, USA:

Nearly two dozen graduate students at the University of Southern Maine are demanding their education professor be replaced after the professor allegedly said only two biological sexes exist.

The students said professor Christy Hammer’s remarks were inaccurate and transphobic.

After all but one student walked out of Hammer’s class on Sept. 14 in protest, they demanded a facilitated restorative justice meeting between the 22 students and their professor.

They got it, but, according to students, Hammer maintained her position saying non-binary biological sex designations are merely variations on male and female. Now they want Hammer gone.

www.bangordailynews.com/2022/09/29/news/portland/usm-professor-two-sexes/

Professor Kathleen Stock has tweeted about this ridiculous situation:
twitter.com/Docstockk/status/1576060008533757952

Jerry Coyne, an emeritus professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago, has also just written about it: whyevolutionistrue.com/2022/10/01/professor-in-maine-demonized-for-teaching-that-humans-have-two-sexes-students-walk-out-and-demand-her-suspension/

Yes, an American friend of mine in the area sent me this yesterday. We were unsure how much to amplify it as we didn't want to make it worse for her but it looks as if it's past that point now and would benefit from some attention.

From the article, there are many gems:

Leibiger, who is non-binary, was absent from class that week but learned about the incident from classmates. When Leibiger arrived for the next class, on Sept. 14, they immediately brought up the discussion again.

“I asked [Hammer] how many sexes there were,” Leibiger said. “She said, ‘Two.’ I felt under personal attack.”
Leibiger then gathered their things and walked out of class because they no longer felt respected.

“I let her know I didn’t think she was qualified to teach a class about positive learning environments,” Leibiger said. “It’s the ultimate irony.”

Leibiger will get a shock when they finally get round to studying reproduction and discover that there are no middle sized gametes.

I'm not so sure, he/she/it has obviously managed to avoid reality so far...!

Teacher teaches students something.
Students disagree with teacher and demand they are fired.
Teacher gets fired and students no longer have to learn about whatever it was.

Wish this was an option when I was studying calculus because I never did quite get differentiation.

Doesn’t stop differentiation being mathematically correct though.

‘I felt under personal attack’?

By who? Charles Darwin?

Fuckwits.

What is genuinely alarming is that these are graduate students who are training to be science teachers. Ffs.

In that article it blithely states that apparently biologists believe that sex is not binary. As always I'd like to know what the additional sexes are and what their role is in mammalian reproduction.

These petulant students should be told that if they choose to not attend classes they will be kicked out of university. Then the lecturer should continue with her teaching.

‘I felt under personal attack’?

By who? Charles Darwin?

They've already gone down the pandering "restorative justice meeting" route so there's not really any way back for the university.

There are only two sexes Biologically speaking There are clearly more gender identities of course.

There are infinite gender identities!

As many as there are personalities!

Link to BDN twitter on the article

twitter.com/bangordailynews/status/1575615430085193728?s=20&t=sGr8LzlaCA6Gy2NAaId42Q

What should happen, the university backs its teacher, the students flunk her class and fail to qualify as teachers. Multiple bullets dodged.

What shouldn't happen, the university caves into the little bigots, they go on to spread their poison.

Doesn't Stephen King live in Maine?

What on earth was the university doing not pointing out basic biology? This cult threatens science, threatens medicine, threatens simple good sense.

And why am I not surprised that the grossly offended non-binary one was bunking off the session but turned up to start a fight the week after?

Something that it seems the professor pointed out. Seriously worrying that these people are interchanging gender and sex. Especially the non-binary person who you’d think would be hot on the subject.

Life of Brian was a commentary on mindless adherence to any ideology or faith position. They got it right.

These students are morons. They don't deserve to be in university. They should be sent back to primary school.

Provided they have the mental capacity. Not sure how well they would score on "attitude to learning".

“I asked [Hammer] how many sexes there were,” Leibiger said. “She said, ‘Two.’ I felt under personal attack.”
Leibiger then gathered their things and walked out of class because they no longer felt respected.

A metaphor for this is to ask somebody to hold out a knife and to hold it still, blade first, walk yourself right into the blade and then blame them for stabbing you.

I think one of the big and wildly underestimated by most problems is that there is a certain group of young people who have all been taught to weep and wail and thrash about and claim that people are being literally violent towards them with words, and genocidal if anybody says anything that isn't 100% affirming of something which is, in the kindest way possible, not objective fact.

I have to wonder if 6th forms or universities teach debating skills any more. "When I was young" we were taught how to gather evidence, how to have a formal debate and we had to practice it. It equipped us for day to day disagreements and debate conversations, as well as the formal type. These young adults seem to have such fragility that they absolutely lose their shit rather than have a calm and reasoned discussion. I know we are in the Trump/Boris Johnson/Far right clown school era - perhaps that's part of it - but at best these young people have not been taught essential life skills. At worst they have been taught to be so emotionally fragile that the feel physically unsafe when others state facts. That's really fucking worrying for their mental health, both short and long term.

oh non binary student !! wait until you are in your 50's are pushing out clots the size of aliens being told you need blood transfusions... do you think YOU CAN IDENTIFY OUT OF YOUR SEX? In my world if I ran a 'college' anyone coming out with something as stupid as that would be failed in the first week.

@RoyalCorgi
These students are morons. They don't deserve to be in university. They should be sent back to primary school.

I genuinely think they've been groomed as kids and teenagers to be fragile. It's fucking devastating for the future of us all to be honest. How does society function when the next generation of carers/teachers/nurses/paramedics/police/prison officers etc are so emotionally fragile that they feel that words are "literal violence"? Does everybody just walk out of their job if somebody says something that upsets them? There's no shortage of people who say mean things, let alone those who will speak truthful facts. Society would grind to a halt.

Could it be extreme Darwinism?
Will they die out from daft ness, leaving a stronger more robust set of folk?

Well sounds like someone isn't ready to learn because they know it all already...

Ffs.
I might as well blow my children’s university fund.

Yes, we should check the rules for Darwin Awards to see if groups can be nominated.