11 Women in Academia Censored or Threatened
Because of Their Views on Sex, Gender, and Queer Theory
Universities used to be known as places where knowledge was respected, freedom of thought was expected, and critical thinking and dissenting views were tolerated… but not anymore. In discussions about biological sex, gender and queer theory, female academics around the world have faced threats, discipline, or censorship for articulating “gender critical views”. This is part of a more general trend of targeting women and men, both within and outside academia. Here are some of their stories.
Sheila Jeffreys, Australia
In 2001, when Sheila Jeffreys was a professor of political science at the University of Melbourne, there was a complaint from a transgender-identified man against Jeffreys for saying transgenderism was a social construction in her lectures. The university supported her at that time. In 2014, queer students online conspired to throw glitter bombs at her or a pie in her face during a lecture. But lectures were over for that year, so they invaded her tutorials, taken by her students, instead. She consulted campus security and had guards at her lectures for a semester. Security advised her to take her name off her door, be careful walking home and other precautions. Also that year two students at other universities complained that she was racist because she said on a radio program that in the 1970s feminists said that transgenderism was like the Black and White Minstrels Show, i.e. members of the oppressor class mimicked and mocked members of the subordinate class for entertainment. The university did not support her. The Department Head told her to sign a statement saying she would never say such a thing again. She did not sign it.
Maria José Binetti, Argentina
Maria Jose Binetti is a professor of Philosophy and researcher at the Gender Institute of Buenos Aires University. Her research focuses on neo-realist and material Feminism, which is critical of postmodern socio-linguisticism and queer culturalism. Because she takes a critical approach to queer theory, the Gender Institute of Buenos Aires University accused María of biologicism, essentialism, transphobia and prejudice. Her group of researching on “sexual difference” was not formally recognized, and many of her articles were rejected for not supporting transgender ideology. Finally, the university invited Maria to delete social network posts in order not to disturb the sensitivities of trans people.
Eugenia Rodrigues, Brazil
Eugenia Rodrigues is a journalist and a spokesperson of “No Corpo Certo” (“On the Right Body”), a campaign against transing children. After she wrote a paper about how the media portrays alleged “transkids” she was scheduled to give two speeches about her work during Psychology Week at Universidade Federal Fluminense: one about the paper, and another about her view that transing kids may be a modern version of a “gay cure,” aimed at children. Two transactivists, one of whom is affiliated with the Brazilian Left party PSOL, organized a protest on Facebook and successfully used e-mail, social networks, and in-person discussions to pressure the university to cancel the talks. Ms Rodrigues discusses this censorship on the website of her campaign against transing children.
Jessica Miranda, Brazil
Jessica Miranda is a philosopher, radical feminist and doctoral student. On August 14, 2019, she appeared at her alma mater, the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - UFPE to give a lecture about female socialization. Transactivists forced the Psychology Department to cancel the event. Ms Miranda writes about this on her Instagram account.
Priscila Cunha, Brazil
Priscila Cunha is a Brazilian psychologist who completed her undergraduate training at the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco. In 2016, she was pressured to abandon her proposed MA thesis, "Gender stereotypes as a tool to oppress women", because of faculty hostility to the radical feminist framework she planned to employ in her analysis. At the time, the Gender and Sexuality Studies Group at UFPE was similarly vociferous in its denunciation of radical feminist approaches as "transphobic". The situation made it impossible for Ms Cunha to pursue a masters degree in psychology at UFPE.
Kathleen Lowrey, Canada
Kathleen Lowrey is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Alberta. In March 2020, eight months into what was supposed to be a three-year term as associate chair of undergraduate studies, she was dismissed from her administrative role because students had complained that she created an “unsafe” learning environment by expressing gender-critical feminist views. Her department chair and the dean of her faculty told her privately why she had been dismissed, but refused to put their reasons in writing. In June 2020, a colleague published an article lamenting the lack of due process in Lowrey’s dismissal from this administrative role. The June 2020 article received public attention and generated a lot of support from gender-critical feminists around the world, but also prompted a campaign by students and colleagues at her university to try to get her fired entirely from her position as a tenured professor and charged with hate speech. At the time of writing, the situation is still unfolding.
https://cfe.ryerson.ca/blog/2020/06/academic-freedom-and-perceptions-harm
Laura Lecuona Gonzalez, Mexico
In February 2017, Laura Lecuona Gonzalez wrote an article expressing her concern about the transing of children, having been a gender non-conforming girl herself and now a lesbian; this resulted in her being labelled a TERF and transphobe and was subjected to vicious online abuse in attempt to silence her. TRAs now routinely seek to pressure media outlets to deplatform her, sometimes successfully. In addition to online attacks, TRAs have appeared at two of her public talks to scream and shout and throw glitter at her, including with a cannon. On one of those occasions, Ms Gonzalez had to enter and exit the premises accompanied by security guards. She sometimes prefers not to speak publicly due to threats of male violence. For more information, see:
https://twitter.com/laura_lecuona/status/1199767271461335041?s=20.
Raquel Rosario Sánchez, Dominican Republic / UK
Rachel Rosario Sánchez is a Dominican feminist writer, campaigner, researcher, and PhD candidate at Bristol University. Her dissertation focuses on online communities of men who pay for sex. She has been bullied and harassed by several trans activist students, who have harassed her online, incited their social media followers to throw eggs and milkshakes at her, demanded that she be punched and turfed out of England, and called for her deportation. She has been vilified during campaigns targetting every feminist event in which she has participated, called names such as “terf”, “scum”, “trash”, “nasty”, and “bigot”, and described as “heinous” and “sickening”. Ms Rosario-Sanchez sought assistance from the University of Bristol but they refused to take any steps to stop the abuse, even failing to properly follow their own procedures. Now she is preparing to sue the University or its failure to properly protect her on the grounds of indirect sex discrimination and unlawful victimization, among others.
Kathleen Stock, UK
Kathleen Stock is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sussex. Since she started writing about her concerns about the idea of gender identity and its effects on women, lesbians and children, she has been the subject of protests on her campus, articles in the press accusing her of transphobia, petitions to have her de-platformed, and orchestrated attempts to have her sacked. Her office door has been defaced and her lectures protested. Fellow academics have described her work as “transphobic”, “dangerous” and “harmful”. One senior feminist academic wrote to every member of a journal’s editorial board complaining that the journal had invited Dr Stock to review of a feminist book for them. The Oxford University Press stated it had decided not to publish an academic book, in part because it would have contained an interview with Dr Stock. On a different occasion, Dr Stock and others were invited to write on trans issues for the Institute of Art and Ideas; when fellow contributors found out that Stock was to be featured, they withdrew their own contributions, calling it a “non-consensual co-platforming”.
Laura Tanner, USA
Laura Tanner is a doctoral candidate and teaching assistant in the Department of Feminist Studies at the University of California-Santa Barbara. A radical and intersectional feminist, she is critical of transgender ideology. Her research focuses on resisting the discursive erasure of women and girls, the radical constructivism of sexes, and the experimental practices of medically transing children. Because of her intellectual and political position, Laura has been insulted, intimidated and threatened by transactivists on social media. The campaign against her includes public incitement, defamation and harassment. Alumni at the University of California demanded that the administration remove her from teaching and take action against her. The Department is investigating the case in order to determine if Ms Tanner violated its code of conduct by disagreeing with transgender ideology. In the meantime, the University keeps silent while Laura is de-platformed and defamed. Click here for more information.
Selina Todd, UK
Selina Todd, a professor of modern history at Oxford University, was invited to speak at the 50th-anniversary celebration of the 1970 National Women's Liberation Conference. Her invitation was revoked when trans activists complained about her affiliation with Woman's Place UK. During the month prior to this February 2020 de-platforming, Oxford University had been providing Professor Todd with security guards to accompany her to lectures because of threats made over social media by trans activists angry about her views regarding the importance of sex-segregated safe spaces for biological women. In this instance, Oxford University and Professor Todd's own department have been admirably steadfast in defending her rights to lawful speech.
These eleven women are just a few examples of a situation that has become the natural atmosphere of the academy. And the academy is just one example of what has become the natural atmosphere of our societies. Nowadays, critical thinking, free expression, and defence of women`s sex-based rights pay such a high price that it may liquidate your job or position. If you are in this situation or know more similar cases, please let the Women’s Human Rights Campaign know. Making censorship visible is the first step in ending it.
Press Team, Women's Human Rights Campaign
Women's Human Rights Campaign (WHRC) is a group of volunteer women from across the globe dedicated to protecting women's sex-based rights. Our volunteers include academics, writers, organizers, activists, health practitioners and more. The Declaration on Women's Sex Based Rights was created by the founders of WHRC to lobby states and international institutions to maintain language protecting women and girls on the basis of sex rather than "gender" or "gender identity". The 6,600 word Declaration lays out how women’s rights are under threat from this change, and has been signed by over 10,000 individuals and nearly 200 organisations from 115 countries. It is available in 16 languages and videos outlining the key points are viewable on the WHRC YouTube Channel.
Women’s Human Rights Campaign has a network of country contacts in 23 countries and runs a weekly online webinar Feminist Question Time on Saturdays at 3pm UK time at which women signatories of the Declaration discuss the threat posed by gender identity ideology to women’s rights. In recent months we have heard from women 24 countries. There is a lobby group that voices women’s concerns about gender ideology to states, the EU and the UN. New signatories, donors and volunteers are always welcome.
Visit Womensdeclaration.com