The Open University has cancelled a conference on prison reform following threats from transgender activists.
The debate came under fire after its organisers said that men calling themselves women should not be able to share prison spaces with females.
Event organiser the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) said the forced cancellation of the conference highlights “the deep need for a movement grounded in inclusive, respectful dialogue”.
Separate accomodation
The CCJS was accused of ‘transphobia’ after it released a statement saying men identifying as women should be kept “separate from female prisoners”.
CCJS made the statement following the case of a man, known as Karen White, who used his transgender identity to sexually assault female inmates in a women’s prison.
But gender activists accused the group of supporting “state-sanctioned murder”. They claimed that putting transgender prisoners in facilities that match their birth sex leads to them committing suicide.
Threatened
The Telegraph reported that the group was “being threatened with demonstrations and disruptive activity”, forcing the Open University to call off the conference.
Last year a trans activist punched and kicked a woman in Hyde Park as she tried to meet with other women to discuss Government plans to allow people to legally self-identify their gender.
The 26-year-old man, who identifies as a woman, had previously said that ‘Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists’ “are no better” than fascists.