Academics urge Cardiff Uni to ‘denounce harassment’ by trans activists

More than 20 academics have called on Cardiff University to “denounce” a “campaign of intimidation and harassment” against its staff by trans activists.

The open letter, signed by 23 academics, said the University has “ignored” harassment against 16 of its staff, who had urged it to cut ties with Stonewall. The staff members included Professor Sally Power, Co-Director of the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data, and Dr. Thomas Prosser, reader in European Social Policy.

LGBT activists distributed their names and photos on leaflets, which branded them “transphobic” and featured a cartoon of a woman holding a gun. The gun sticker was also placed in the area around the University.

‘Fear’

The staff had told the University it was “inappropriate” that a group such as Stonewall “should be embedded within the university, influencing policies which affect freedom of expression and expose dissenters to harassment”.

The signatories criticised the University for failing “to undertake proper investigations” into the harassment of the staff who had expressed their concerns over the University’s involvement with Stonewall.

Toby Young, General Secretary of The Free Speech Union, said: “Cardiff University has completely failed to intervene while militant trans activists have created a culture of abject fear, with anyone who opposes their ideology afraid to speak out.”

He has written to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, urging him to intervene in the case.

Intimidation

The leaflets and stickers have been reported to the police, but a Cardiff University spokesman claimed there is “insufficient evidence” to link them to its staff or students.

The University stated it will “continue to support staff and students on all sides while upholding our commitment to free speech”.

But former lecturer Christian Wilton-King, who was given one of the leaflets, said: “There is an army of people, who may include students, whose actions are intimidating lecturers who question them, and that has serious implications for free speech on campuses across the country.

“I know some of the lecturers who signed the letter, and this is making them feel very unsafe and scared to speak out.”

Death threats

Last year, several academics called on university heads to robustly protect free speech after Professor Kathleen Stock was ousted from her job for defending the reality of biological sex.

Professor Michael Biggs of Oxford University stated that the current culture at some universities was “ludicrous” and is embedded within the institutions themselves.

Stock faced online harassment, including death threats, for stating that men cannot become women. Activists targeted her workplace and erected banners calling on the University to sack her.