Nine unis accused of labelling gender-critical staff and students ‘morally evil’

At least nine UK universities have branded those who uphold the reality of biological sex ‘transphobic’, Freedom of Information requests have revealed.

According to the Committee for Academic Freedom, universities including Imperial College London and the University of Aberdeen almost completely copied “Stonewall’s definition of transphobia”, which includes “refusing to accept” a person’s “gender identity”.

A further eight universities pledged to remove “transphobic propaganda” from their campuses.

‘Chilling’

The Committee for Academic Freedom said: “The chilling effect is made worse by the fact that ‘transphobic’ is a strongly critical term – it is often compared to ‘racist’. The nine universities are not merely taking an official view on the gender debate; they are labelling those who disagree with this view as morally evil.

“This makes it next to impossible for academics and students in those universities to freely explore and debate gender-critical ideas.”

Professor Kathleen Stock OBE, who was ousted from her job following a campaign of abuse by trans activists, added: “It is alarming to find that some universities are still in the grip of external trans activist organisations who have no understanding of the value of academic freedom and apparently wish to intimidate critics into silence.”

Fellow gender-critical professor Jo Phoenix, who quit Open University after it failed to safeguard her from harassment, has now been vindicated by an Employment Tribunal.

Pronouns

In Northern Ireland, Queen’s University Belfast has claimed that referring to a gender-confused person’s biological sex is “transphobic abuse”.

In its updated Trans Equality Policy the University stated that “repeated or intentional use of incorrect pronouns or name” will be treated under the Bullying and Harassment Policy as a disciplinary offence.

The guidance, which applies to staff, students, employees and visitors, recommends that men who identify as women should be allowed to access female-only facilities.