British University at risk of complicity in an anti-transgender bullying campaign
In February 2018, an event was organised in Bristol by the controversial campaign group A Woman’s Place UK (WPUK). The organisation opposes reforms designed to improve legal recognition for trans people. Their events are billed as a platform for ‘debate’, with obvious common-sense appeal, but sadly their actual content shows they are a one-sided platform for dissemination of hate-based narratives and scare tactics, peddling the outdated notion that recognising trans people’s human rights somehow presents a danger to cisgender women.
To most of us, that one-off event is a thing of the past, although the so-called ‘debate’ is ongoing. But for one student, ‘Q’, it seems to be lasting an inordinately long time. For more than a year, the University of Bristol has been engaged in a disciplinary process against Q for speaking out publicly against the event, leaving them caught in protracted uncertainty about their study status, supervision arrangements, and future as a PhD student at Bristol.
“Imperial Britain imposed policies to enforce heterosexuality & the gender binary, while simultaneously constructing the racial “other” as not only fundamentally different, but freighted with sexual menace” — when we say TERFs are fascistic, this is why https://t.co/rdhuDeW0Rt
— mo°n (@lulu_nunn) May 12, 2019
The case hinges on a letter opposing the WPUK event, considered controversial because it identifies WPUK as a hate-based campaign, associates the University with the event itself, and calls on the University to cancel the event. Charges against Q have been inconsistent, but include vilifying another student, suppressing freedom of speech, and bringing the University into disrepute.
The University must consider its responsibilities to the health and safety of its minority students, especially where external parties are involved. The University cannot discharge this duty without recognising the climate within which it operates: trans people are exposed to organised public harassment and cyberbullying on a daily basis. WPUK positions itself as the representative of an embattled minority, but the campaign against transgender rights is powerful, vocal and well-resourced. This public ideological battle negatively impacts the lives of trans people, including students at the University.
More worryingly still, anti-trans campaigners are engaged in a sustained campaign of targeted individual harassment against transgender advocates. In one well-publicised example at the University of Milwaukee, former far-right poster-child Milos Yiannopoulos outed a trans student to a large public audience, in a series of disgustingly personal and incendiary remarks. Closer to home, anti-trans campaigners resort to similar tactics, publishing pre-transition photos and personal details, and harassing trans people at their places of study. The UK has seen a marked rise in anti-trans hate crimes in recent years.
https://epigram.org.uk/2019/05/13/the-university-could-be-at-risk-of-complicity-in-anti-transgender-bullying-campaign/
To most of us, that one-off event is a thing of the past, although the so-called ‘debate’ is ongoing. But for one student, ‘Q’, it seems to be lasting an inordinately long time. For more than a year, the University of Bristol has been engaged in a disciplinary process against Q for speaking out publicly against the event, leaving them caught in protracted uncertainty about their study status, supervision arrangements, and future as a PhD student at Bristol.
“Imperial Britain imposed policies to enforce heterosexuality & the gender binary, while simultaneously constructing the racial “other” as not only fundamentally different, but freighted with sexual menace” — when we say TERFs are fascistic, this is why https://t.co/rdhuDeW0Rt
— mo°n (@lulu_nunn) May 12, 2019
The case hinges on a letter opposing the WPUK event, considered controversial because it identifies WPUK as a hate-based campaign, associates the University with the event itself, and calls on the University to cancel the event. Charges against Q have been inconsistent, but include vilifying another student, suppressing freedom of speech, and bringing the University into disrepute.
The University must consider its responsibilities to the health and safety of its minority students, especially where external parties are involved. The University cannot discharge this duty without recognising the climate within which it operates: trans people are exposed to organised public harassment and cyberbullying on a daily basis. WPUK positions itself as the representative of an embattled minority, but the campaign against transgender rights is powerful, vocal and well-resourced. This public ideological battle negatively impacts the lives of trans people, including students at the University.
More worryingly still, anti-trans campaigners are engaged in a sustained campaign of targeted individual harassment against transgender advocates. In one well-publicised example at the University of Milwaukee, former far-right poster-child Milos Yiannopoulos outed a trans student to a large public audience, in a series of disgustingly personal and incendiary remarks. Closer to home, anti-trans campaigners resort to similar tactics, publishing pre-transition photos and personal details, and harassing trans people at their places of study. The UK has seen a marked rise in anti-trans hate crimes in recent years.
https://epigram.org.uk/2019/05/13/the-university-could-be-at-risk-of-complicity-in-anti-transgender-bullying-campaign/
I don’t think China takes a very positive view towards LGBT issues either, if it’s any consolation to you
Original post by AngeryPenguin
In February 2018, an event was organised in Bristol by the controversial campaign group A Woman’s Place UK (WPUK). The organisation opposes reforms designed to improve legal recognition for trans people. Their events are billed as a platform for ‘debate’, with obvious common-sense appeal, but sadly their actual content shows they are a one-sided platform for dissemination of hate-based narratives and scare tactics, peddling the outdated notion that recognising trans people’s human rights somehow presents a danger to cisgender women.
To most of us, that one-off event is a thing of the past, although the so-called ‘debate’ is ongoing. But for one student, ‘Q’, it seems to be lasting an inordinately long time. For more than a year, the University of Bristol has been engaged in a disciplinary process against Q for speaking out publicly against the event, leaving them caught in protracted uncertainty about their study status, supervision arrangements, and future as a PhD student at Bristol.
“Imperial Britain imposed policies to enforce heterosexuality & the gender binary, while simultaneously constructing the racial “other” as not only fundamentally different, but freighted with sexual menace” — when we say TERFs are fascistic, this is why https://t.co/rdhuDeW0Rt
— mo°n (@lulu_nunn) May 12, 2019
The case hinges on a letter opposing the WPUK event, considered controversial because it identifies WPUK as a hate-based campaign, associates the University with the event itself, and calls on the University to cancel the event. Charges against Q have been inconsistent, but include vilifying another student, suppressing freedom of speech, and bringing the University into disrepute.
The University must consider its responsibilities to the health and safety of its minority students, especially where external parties are involved. The University cannot discharge this duty without recognising the climate within which it operates: trans people are exposed to organised public harassment and cyberbullying on a daily basis. WPUK positions itself as the representative of an embattled minority, but the campaign against transgender rights is powerful, vocal and well-resourced. This public ideological battle negatively impacts the lives of trans people, including students at the University.
More worryingly still, anti-trans campaigners are engaged in a sustained campaign of targeted individual harassment against transgender advocates. In one well-publicised example at the University of Milwaukee, former far-right poster-child Milos Yiannopoulos outed a trans student to a large public audience, in a series of disgustingly personal and incendiary remarks. Closer to home, anti-trans campaigners resort to similar tactics, publishing pre-transition photos and personal details, and harassing trans people at their places of study. The UK has seen a marked rise in anti-trans hate crimes in recent years.
https://epigram.org.uk/2019/05/13/the-university-could-be-at-risk-of-complicity-in-anti-transgender-bullying-campaign/
To most of us, that one-off event is a thing of the past, although the so-called ‘debate’ is ongoing. But for one student, ‘Q’, it seems to be lasting an inordinately long time. For more than a year, the University of Bristol has been engaged in a disciplinary process against Q for speaking out publicly against the event, leaving them caught in protracted uncertainty about their study status, supervision arrangements, and future as a PhD student at Bristol.
“Imperial Britain imposed policies to enforce heterosexuality & the gender binary, while simultaneously constructing the racial “other” as not only fundamentally different, but freighted with sexual menace” — when we say TERFs are fascistic, this is why https://t.co/rdhuDeW0Rt
— mo°n (@lulu_nunn) May 12, 2019
The case hinges on a letter opposing the WPUK event, considered controversial because it identifies WPUK as a hate-based campaign, associates the University with the event itself, and calls on the University to cancel the event. Charges against Q have been inconsistent, but include vilifying another student, suppressing freedom of speech, and bringing the University into disrepute.
The University must consider its responsibilities to the health and safety of its minority students, especially where external parties are involved. The University cannot discharge this duty without recognising the climate within which it operates: trans people are exposed to organised public harassment and cyberbullying on a daily basis. WPUK positions itself as the representative of an embattled minority, but the campaign against transgender rights is powerful, vocal and well-resourced. This public ideological battle negatively impacts the lives of trans people, including students at the University.
More worryingly still, anti-trans campaigners are engaged in a sustained campaign of targeted individual harassment against transgender advocates. In one well-publicised example at the University of Milwaukee, former far-right poster-child Milos Yiannopoulos outed a trans student to a large public audience, in a series of disgustingly personal and incendiary remarks. Closer to home, anti-trans campaigners resort to similar tactics, publishing pre-transition photos and personal details, and harassing trans people at their places of study. The UK has seen a marked rise in anti-trans hate crimes in recent years.
https://epigram.org.uk/2019/05/13/the-university-could-be-at-risk-of-complicity-in-anti-transgender-bullying-campaign/
Trans Chinese teens forced into 'conversion therapy': study
Michael Taylor
4 Min Read
KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Trans teenagers in China face abuse at home and bullying at school, with almost one in five forced into conversion therapies, according to a survey released on Friday.
The researchers called for the widely discredited therapy - be it hypnosis or electric shocks - to be outlawed, saying transgender youths in China face a “hostile” environment.
“There are still hospitals and clinics that have conversion therapy for sexual minorities,” said Runsen Chen, lead author of the study.
“It should be banned in the future, in China,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.
The online survey questioned 385 people aged from 12 to 18 who are transgender or do not identify as male or female.
It was conducted by the Beijing LGBT Center between January and September 2017 and analyzed by researchers at Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University in March of this year.
It found that 17% of respondents had been coerced or forced to undergo conversion therapy, 45% were at risk of major depressive disorder and 51% experienced suicidal thoughts.
The specific types of conversion therapy were not listed.
Conversion therapy rests on the belief that being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender is a mental illness that can be cured. It is widely discredited by medics.
Worldwide, Malta, Ecuador and Brazil have banned conversion therapy, while Britain, along with parts of Canada and Australia, are mulling bans, according to ILGA, a network of LGBT+ rights groups.
After decades of Communist Party prudery about sex of all kinds, LGBT+ Chinese have in recent years openly challenged bureaucracy, legal uncertainty and entrenched social norms to assert their place in society.
There is no reliable data on China’s transgender population but, globally, an estimated 25 million people, or 0.3%-0.5% of people, are transgender, according to a study in the Lancet.
Home to a thriving gay scene in its major cities, China has no laws against same-sex relations and there is growing awareness of LGBT+ issues.
But China, whose parliament last month ruled out following neighboring Taiwan in allowing same-sex marriage, does not ban conversion therapy and homosexuality was listed as a mental disorder until 2001.
The new research is the first comprehensive national study to look at the rates of abuse, neglect, and bullying from family, classmates or teachers among the Chinese transgender community, according to the researchers.
Its scope was limited however, as all those who took part were required to have internet access, which resulted in most respondents living in urban China, Chen said.
It found that among the 319 teens who said their parents knew their gender identity, 93% had experienced parental abuse or neglect and, among all the youths, 77% reported abuse or bullying at school from classmates or teachers.
Chen called on the government to provide better training for psychiatrists who work with trans people suffering the fallout of such widespread abuse.
Schools should also develop plans to protect transgender students, training teachers and students alike. And the government could show parents how to support their transgender children and step in to curb any family abuse, the study said.
“Transgender and gender non-binary adolescents in China face significant challenges,” it added. “The environment for gender minorities in China appears to be hostile.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-transgender-youth/trans-chinese-teens-forced-into-conversion-therapy-study-idUSKCN1VR1YE
Original post by AngeryPenguin
In February 2018, an event was organised in Bristol by the controversial campaign group A Woman’s Place UK (WPUK). The organisation opposes reforms designed to improve legal recognition for trans people. Their events are billed as a platform for ‘debate’, with obvious common-sense appeal, but sadly their actual content shows they are a one-sided platform for dissemination of hate-based narratives and scare tactics, peddling the outdated notion that recognising trans people’s human rights somehow presents a danger to cisgender women.
To most of us, that one-off event is a thing of the past, although the so-called ‘debate’ is ongoing. But for one student, ‘Q’, it seems to be lasting an inordinately long time. For more than a year, the University of Bristol has been engaged in a disciplinary process against Q for speaking out publicly against the event, leaving them caught in protracted uncertainty about their study status, supervision arrangements, and future as a PhD student at Bristol.
“Imperial Britain imposed policies to enforce heterosexuality & the gender binary, while simultaneously constructing the racial “other” as not only fundamentally different, but freighted with sexual menace” — when we say TERFs are fascistic, this is why https://t.co/rdhuDeW0Rt
— mo°n (@lulu_nunn) May 12, 2019
The case hinges on a letter opposing the WPUK event, considered controversial because it identifies WPUK as a hate-based campaign, associates the University with the event itself, and calls on the University to cancel the event. Charges against Q have been inconsistent, but include vilifying another student, suppressing freedom of speech, and bringing the University into disrepute.
The University must consider its responsibilities to the health and safety of its minority students, especially where external parties are involved. The University cannot discharge this duty without recognising the climate within which it operates: trans people are exposed to organised public harassment and cyberbullying on a daily basis. WPUK positions itself as the representative of an embattled minority, but the campaign against transgender rights is powerful, vocal and well-resourced. This public ideological battle negatively impacts the lives of trans people, including students at the University.
More worryingly still, anti-trans campaigners are engaged in a sustained campaign of targeted individual harassment against transgender advocates. In one well-publicised example at the University of Milwaukee, former far-right poster-child Milos Yiannopoulos outed a trans student to a large public audience, in a series of disgustingly personal and incendiary remarks. Closer to home, anti-trans campaigners resort to similar tactics, publishing pre-transition photos and personal details, and harassing trans people at their places of study. The UK has seen a marked rise in anti-trans hate crimes in recent years.
https://epigram.org.uk/2019/05/13/the-university-could-be-at-risk-of-complicity-in-anti-transgender-bullying-campaign/
To most of us, that one-off event is a thing of the past, although the so-called ‘debate’ is ongoing. But for one student, ‘Q’, it seems to be lasting an inordinately long time. For more than a year, the University of Bristol has been engaged in a disciplinary process against Q for speaking out publicly against the event, leaving them caught in protracted uncertainty about their study status, supervision arrangements, and future as a PhD student at Bristol.
“Imperial Britain imposed policies to enforce heterosexuality & the gender binary, while simultaneously constructing the racial “other” as not only fundamentally different, but freighted with sexual menace” — when we say TERFs are fascistic, this is why https://t.co/rdhuDeW0Rt
— mo°n (@lulu_nunn) May 12, 2019
The case hinges on a letter opposing the WPUK event, considered controversial because it identifies WPUK as a hate-based campaign, associates the University with the event itself, and calls on the University to cancel the event. Charges against Q have been inconsistent, but include vilifying another student, suppressing freedom of speech, and bringing the University into disrepute.
The University must consider its responsibilities to the health and safety of its minority students, especially where external parties are involved. The University cannot discharge this duty without recognising the climate within which it operates: trans people are exposed to organised public harassment and cyberbullying on a daily basis. WPUK positions itself as the representative of an embattled minority, but the campaign against transgender rights is powerful, vocal and well-resourced. This public ideological battle negatively impacts the lives of trans people, including students at the University.
More worryingly still, anti-trans campaigners are engaged in a sustained campaign of targeted individual harassment against transgender advocates. In one well-publicised example at the University of Milwaukee, former far-right poster-child Milos Yiannopoulos outed a trans student to a large public audience, in a series of disgustingly personal and incendiary remarks. Closer to home, anti-trans campaigners resort to similar tactics, publishing pre-transition photos and personal details, and harassing trans people at their places of study. The UK has seen a marked rise in anti-trans hate crimes in recent years.
https://epigram.org.uk/2019/05/13/the-university-could-be-at-risk-of-complicity-in-anti-transgender-bullying-campaign/
China 'failing trans people' as young attempt surgery on themselves – study
Stigma and ignorance drive young people to undertake high-risk treatment without telling families, Amnesty researchers say
Young transgender people in China are risking their lives and health by taking unsafe hormones and attempting surgery on themselves, according to researchers at Amnesty International.
An “alarming” lack of knowledge and expertise within the country’s public health system, as well as restrictive eligibility requirements, has made it almost impossible for trans people to access safe hormone therapy or other gender-affirming treatment, said the human rights group in a report published on Friday.
In China, trans people are classified as having a mental illness and require the consent of their families for sex reassignment surgery, the researchers found. The prevalence of discrimination and stigma means many choose not to tell their families.
“China is failing transgender people,” said Doriane Lau, China researcher at Amnesty. “Discriminatory laws and policies have left many people feeling they have no choice but to risk their lives by performing extremely dangerous surgery on themselves and seeking unsafe hormone drugs on the black market.”
Transgender people are “invisible” in China’s health system, Amnesty said. They face entrenched discrimination at home, school and at work, as well as when seeking healthcare. China has no LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex) anti-discrimination laws.
There are no official estimates of the number of trans people in the country, or how many seek treatment. However, in 2017 a report stated that more than 1,000 people in the country had undergone gender-affirming surgery and 400,000 people were planning to do so.
Two of the 15 trans people interviewed by Amnesty researchers recalled their trauma after attempting gender-affirming surgery on themselves.
“I thought I was an abnormal person,” said Huiming*, 30, from Hangzhou, who was born with male sex characteristics but identified as female. Accessing treatment at a hospital was not an option, as she feared her family would reject her when she asked for their consent.
After unsuccessfully seeking out a black market doctor for gender-affirming surgery, in 2016 she attempted surgery on herself to get rid of her male genitals. “How could I explain this to my family? I was both happy and scared. I was scared because I was bleeding so badly, I could die right there. I feared I would still die a man, since I only did part of my surgery.”
Huiming, who was rushed to hospital after the attempt, eventually travelled to Thailand for treatment. Before the surgery, she came out as trans to her mother, who has now accepted her.
Other trans people told Amnesty of how they had resorted to buying potentially unsafe hormones online, via information on social media, without knowing whether the drugs were genuine, or if they might cause harmful side effects.
Shansan*, 21, a transgender man from Beijing, said: “I couldn’t tell if the drugs were authentic. I think there isn’t anything lethal in these drugs … but what better options do I have?”
Lau said: “The Chinese government can show it is serious in addressing discrimination against the LGBTI community by removing the barriers transgender people face when trying to access safe gender-affirming treatments.”
Honduran transgender woman freed after a year in US detention
Read more
Peking University Third hospital, which opened in 2018, is the only multidisciplinary clinic in China that specialises in a range of gender-affirming treatments. In March, the Chinese government accepted recommendations by the UN human rights council to legislate to ban discrimination against LGBTI people.
Amnesty’s local partners in China said they found it difficult to recruit interviewees on a large scale for the report due to fear of the potential repercussions of speaking openly.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/may/10/china-failing-trans-people-as-young-attempt-surgery-on-themselves-study
Original post by Napp
What an absolute load of claptrap. Especially that bizarre quote from Ms Nobody on Twitter.
They only cut and pasted half the article.
Original post by 999tigger
They only cut and pasted half the article.
Even with the full article my position would be the same, i have little time for this rather odds "battle" between feminists and 'TERFS'
Original post by Napp
Even with the full article my position would be the same, i have little time for this rather odds "battle" between feminists and 'TERFS'
Penguin doesnt give a monkeys about the subject matter, just an attempt to show the UK or whoever they see as Chinas foes in a bad light. I thought the article was about due process and an unfair investigation by the university. It did sound unfair when I read it.
Original post by 999tigger
Penguin doesnt give a monkeys about the subject matter, just an attempt to show the UK or whoever they see as Chinas foes in a bad light. I thought the article was about due process and an unfair investigation by the university. It did sound unfair when I read it.
Its an amusing raison detre to have to be sure
In fairness, it is written be a student, its rather their job to be outlining imagined injustices to the left and right but hey ho.
I don't understand why there's so much hate directed at mtf transgender people - not to encourage bigots to hate more people but ftm trans people exist too. It's the same here in the US, so so so much hate for mtf trans.Just something that I always find weird.
Original post by Sabertooth
I don't understand why there's so much hate directed at mtf transgender people - not to encourage bigots to hate more people but ftm trans people exist too. It's the same here in the US, so so so much hate for mtf trans.Just something that I always find weird.
It’s for the same reason people hate gay men but lesbians get a pass; female trying to be masculine, cool she wants to be like us. Man trying to be feminine; disgusting, femininity is inferior
So basically misogyny?
There's the whole toilet debate too. Like a ftm guy isn't even considered a problem but don't get people started on "a man in a dress" in the ladies' room.
There's the whole toilet debate too. Like a ftm guy isn't even considered a problem but don't get people started on "a man in a dress" in the ladies' room.
I know people who claim to be feminists who rant and rave about mft and female space their nothing but biggots. I never come any male who complain about trans-men male space.
Original post by Sabertooth
So basically misogyny?
There's the whole toilet debate too. Like a ftm guy isn't even considered a problem but don't get people started on "a man in a dress" in the ladies' room.
There's the whole toilet debate too. Like a ftm guy isn't even considered a problem but don't get people started on "a man in a dress" in the ladies' room.
Pretty much yeah; homophobia and transphobia is just misogyny dressed up as something else
Original post by 999tigger
You know Penguin well known LGBT champion, seems the Chinese like their conversion therapy and look after their transgender. Bet Penguin is busy sticking up for Transgender people on Weibo and other forums.
So he’s not just on this forum? @Napp the Chinese outreach is bigger than any of us thought
Original post by looloo2134
I know people who claim to be feminists who rant and rave about mft and female space their nothing but biggots. I never come any male who complain about trans-men male space.
I can understand the concern that any man could identify as a woman to get into female spaces and abuse women but I think the case of male to female transsexual people who’ve undergone surgery and hormone treatment to try and be female it’s unlikely that they have predatory ambitions
Original post by Sabertooth
I don't understand why there's so much hate directed at mtf transgender people - not to encourage bigots to hate more people but ftm trans people exist too. It's the same here in the US, so so so much hate for mtf trans.Just something that I always find weird.
There's a deal of misogyny behind it, but also with gay rights having advanced relatively well and things like same sex marriage and adoption being law, trans rights is the new battleground in a conservative vs progressive culture war, and from that perspective, what is scarier and thus more convenient for the push against trans rights - a "man" (trans woman) in the women's toilets & changing rooms, or a "woman" (trans man) in the men's toilets and changing rooms? It's far easier for conservative groups like WPUK to advance their agenda by scaremongering about the former, hence the greater focus on trans women
Original post by Stiff Little Fingers
There's a deal of misogyny behind it, but also with gay rights having advanced relatively well and things like same sex marriage and adoption being law, trans rights is the new battleground in a conservative vs progressive culture war, and from that perspective, what is scarier and thus more convenient for the push against trans rights - a "man" (trans woman) in the women's toilets & changing rooms, or a "woman" (trans man) in the men's toilets and changing rooms? It's far easier for conservative groups like WPUK to advance their agenda by scaremongering about the former, hence the greater focus on trans women
You make a good point.
I asked the stereotypical Southern woman I work with if and why there are spaces on the sides of the stall doors in the women's bathroom like there are in the men's (this is a purely American thing I have never experienced it in the UK) and she told me there are. When I said about the UK not having these 1cm gaps she was horrified. Like "what if a man comes in, how would I know if these little gaps weren't there". I thought this was such a strange fear. :/
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