Bristol - Mounted police deployed due to anti-woman protest

[fromorbit]

Professor Alice Sullivan a statistician faced a nasty demo for doing a lecture talking about reality.

Prof Jo Phoenix

Worth pausing for a moment and taking on board what just happened at Bristol University and the fact that mounted police were called to deal with a protest against a sociologist who wrote a government report.

I mean.... this is definitely giving 2018 vibes.

Professor Alice Sullivan
This was a surreal moment. Many thanks to BristolUni
Dept of Social Policy for the invitation. And especially to Steve and the excellent security team. The TRA demonstration was apparently quite ugly, with mounted police needed. I have never experienced the like.

https://nitter.net/ProfAliceS/status/1981027679332687923

This follows Bristol council refusing to talk about women's rights walking out on discussions and signs at recent Bristol marches calling for violence:;
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5418310-fuck-cops-arm-trans-women-placard-at-pro-trans-march-in-bristol

More evidence that the TAs as they lose ground are turning to more extreme measures.

They are proving that violence and threats is at the heart of the movement as women have been saying all along.

Alice has had people who used to be close friends of hers, some of whom I know, denounce her as a bigot, even an arch-bigot, because she believes we need accurate data that can be disaggregated by sex. Because that would make a small group of men sad.

One of them, in conversation with me, shook his head in wonderment because Alice had failed to accept that TWAW after he (of course it was a he) after he had explained things to her.

Those people created the environment for this to happen. So they could feel like they were virtuous people on the right side of history.

I don't have much more to say, because that fact makes me extremely angry. It's not just that they should know better. They do know better, and they did it anyway.

I was half hoping Sex Matters might comment, as the media listens to them.

I wonder if an email to news at the Telegraph might be worth while.

In terms of the University, is it the Minister for Education (Philipson?) who should be asked to comment?!

Quote:

Freedom of speech at universities in England is now governed by the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, which came into effect on August 1, 2025.

This law strengthens universities' legal duties to protect lawful free speech, allowing them to take action against those who disrupt it.

The Office for Students (OfS) enforces these duties and can issue penalties for breaches.

I imagine the Minister for Universities could comment, but it sounds like the free speech part was ok i.e. the University allowed the event to go ahead. I think this is more of a policing question - why is this form of "protest", which is actually violent intimidation, allowed to happen without arrests being made? Clearly the police reacted to it, but there never seems to be actual consequences to these idiots behaving like thugs.

Just to say that it was not just men protesting but half were women. All seems from privileged background. I object to the mask wearing - what do they have to hide? Universities have to have some consequences on their students but they are all running scared

Hasn't the government? put forward proposals to ban mask wearing at protests?

Maya reposted Alice's tweet about the chaos.

The thing is there are so much of this stuff happening along with all the tribunals right now it is getting buried.

The attempt to the silence the Demo at Holyrood with a speaker system is still getting press because MSP's were were involved.

The main thing is we keep awareness going and fight back. We log what happens. We speaking more, supporting more legal cases etc.

The TAs are losing. That is why they are getting more extreme. However their FEAR tactics never worked in the past and can't work now.

The Dr Rachel Saunders complaining at Professor Sullivan on twitter that GC people are harassing trans people is presumably this guy, thinks he’s a lady hockey player:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/lifestyle/article-14587219/Why-trans-woman-42-joined-University-Nottingham-womens-hockey-team-Mature-student-reveals-feels-unsafe-playing-male-squads.html

That's the very one! He was threatening to sue England hockey over their transgender guidance that says no men in women's teams

I’d like to know everyone’s thoughts on HR organizations commanding the government to not follow the SC ruling and that the EHRC guidance are violations against trans people.

Will this derail women’s rights in the UK? What about all the recent male violence coming from the trans community over women simply speaking about their rights? Do these orgs really hate women?

Good questions and serious questions. I would start a separate thread so that the discussion doesn't get lost in this thread. There are bound to be a lot of thoughts!

I heard this described as a forever war. I think that's exactly what it will be. It's another face of the misogyny hydra. An exceptionally unusual one perhaps, not least because so many women are cheering it on.

Historically some of the biggest enablers of misogyny and patriarchy have been other women. Why is something you could write entire books about.

And why is it terrible to 'violate' men's demands to have non consenting women undress and submit to strip searches, but 'violating' women's actual legal rights is fine?

I defy anyone to explain that coherently without demonstrating that they're actually an unconscious male supremacist, and viewing all humans on a binary sexed basis.

I can't find any reports in the local news media - surely the use of mounted police would make it a news story?

Arif Ahmed, OfS [Office for Students] director for free speech and academic freedom, of Univ of Sussex fame, might be interested, although Prof Sullivan's free speech was not impeded by the university itself.

There might be a case to be made about the security arrangements, which didn't prevent the disruption - and they had to call the mounted police to restore order on the campus?

Yes I agree that the fact the mounted police were called in indicates a level of violence and intimidation that is beyond say having protest outside a meeting ( a few placards and some leaflets).

That's why yesterday I mention whether the Minister for Education should comment.

Not just about whether the University did enough (they shouldn't have to) but that students need to be reminded about the right to free speech. I thought there had been a committment to make sure that threats from students against speakers or events they dont like, should be challenged.

Shocking.

But also shocking that the news media havn't picked up on it.

@TheywontletmehavethenameIwant "The coppers really need to start arresting and charging the unbalanced misogynists."

I think a good many coppers probably feel right at home with unbalanced misogynists.

You won't. The Bristol post had the temerity to run something critical of trans behaviour a few weeks from WRN and it was taken down within a few hours. Bristol media is as captured as everything else

Well, at least the Critic has published an article

https://thecritic.co.uk/tras-are-still-partying-like-its-2019/

There needs to be consequences for the authoritarian little shits who participate in this vile behaviour.

Do these students face any sanctions from the university? Because I think that is part of the problem. They behave in the most appalling way and harass people they don't agree with, and universities seem to look the other way.

Good article, thank you for the link.
It covers the issue of the university's duties - which they appear to have carried out, just about, by making sure the talk could continue - and it confirms the intervention by mounted police.
Mounted police operating on a university campus is A Very Big Deal - surely there must be footage of it?
If only from outraged TRAs showing how oppressed and marginalised they are🙄
edited to acknowledge Theeyeballsinthesky 's post about the local media being too captured to report the news.

The BBC is reporting that Prof Sullivan is threatening Bristol University with legal action for failure to protect free speech:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyx3y84ln9o

The article is prominent and looks reasonable.

Professor Sullivan has just been interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Started about 8.45am. Should be available on BBC iPlayer later.