Gender-critical academics must put their heads above the parapet

Earlier this week, the Daily Mail reported that University College London (UCL) is continuing to allow men into women’s toilets and changing rooms. I struggled to understand why this was news – after all, it’s no secret that universities across the UK are proudly ignoring April’s Supreme Court ruling, which affirmed the right of women to have single-sex spaces. No, what struck me most was that all the UCL academics the Mail spoke to chose to remain anonymous.

The apparent reason for their anonymity was not a fear of repercussions from their employer or the journals they publish in, nor of the backlash they would inevitably face from their own students. According to the article, they were reluctant to speak publicly because they have fallen at the last, most disappointing hurdle – that is, they fear being ‘vilified’ by their colleagues.

I’m not having a pop at those UCL academics specifically for remaining anonymous. This is, after all, a nationwide issue, and the Mail report is just another reminder of it. Yet we must all surely be fed up with the collective silence of those academics who keep their gender-critical views quiet. Clearly, there is no shortage of academics who are willing to publicly profess their opposition to women’s rights – over 2,000 of them signed an open letter declaring as much following the Supreme Court ruling. Where, though, are all the feminist voices in academia?

Their continued cowering from the public square is all the more depressing given the clear legal protections that academics enjoy. Since 2021, gender-critical beliefs have been protected under the Equality Act. There is now the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, alongside the Office for Students’ robust guidance on free-speech issues. We saw how effective these both can be in March this year, when the University of Sussex was fined more than £500,000 following its shameful treatment of gender-critical philosopher Kathleen Stock. And, of course, the Free Speech Union, where I work, is on hand to come to the defence of any academics should their employer choose to ignore all these legal protections and its duty to uphold them. If gender-critical academics won’t speak up now, then when will they?

There are ongoing and commendable efforts to amplify gender-critical views at universities. But the longer the fear of being ‘vilified’ by colleagues is the reported reason for academics’ silence, the more the confidence of gender-critical students will wane. Students wait desperately to hear of someone, somewhere on their campus, speaking up for the truth. In the meantime, those daring to question gender ideology are thrown to the wolves, who revel in their superior numbers, safe in the knowledge that even the academics are scared to speak out.

I know from experience just how brutal this can be. Last year, I was suspended from my committee position at Leeds University radio station, simply because I expressed gender-critical views. I was told I had to submit a written apology to members of Leeds students’ union and undergo a ‘re-education’ course.

For standing up for women’s rights, I was ‘vilified’ by my peers. What was meant to be one of the best years of my life turned out to be one of the loneliest. The one friend who stood by me was told that he should make sure not to be seen in public with me if he wanted to remain respected within the radio station. Over time, I have discovered the impact this kind of shaming has had on some of my now closest friends who have also taken the risk of speaking out. Their relationships have been profoundly damaged, and their career prospects now uncertain. Indeed, I realised that the worst cancellations at university are the ones that go unnoticed.

The fact is students do not enjoy the same legal protections afforded to academics. It should not be left to students to play guessing games as to whether their professor might be a secret TERF. They should not have to weigh up the risk of outing themselves as a ‘transphobe’ to the person marking their work on the off chance that their professor is on side.

‘Courage calls to courage everywhere’, as suffragist Millicent Fawcett said, and if there was ever a time for feminist academics to be bold, it is surely now. On behalf of students afraid to speak out, I implore gender-critical academics to collectively make themselves known – not just online, but on campus, too.

The consensus among these students is that the fear of being ‘villainised’ by colleagues is no longer washing. The causes of biological truth, women’s rights and free speech are too important.

Connie Shaw is external affairs officer at the Free Speech Union.