*Lucy Bannerman, Monday September 05 2022, 12.01am, The Times*
Swansea University has been accused of “telling women to shut up” after its feminist society was closed down for apparently making book recommendations that upset trans activists.
Staff and women’s rights groups said it was shameful that students would have no women-only group when they began the new academic year, after the Feminist Society was quietly removed from university directories over the summer.
Abby Claron, the outgoing president of the society, said it had been “purged” by trans activists, as punishment for openly supporting women’s sex-based rights on Instagram.
The Students’ Union, which manages the university societies, insisted that the society was “dormant” because of a technicality relating to the election of its committee.
However, Claron denied the claim, saying that it was being used as an excuse to ban a society that did not conform with student activists’ beliefs on transgender rights.
She and other members of the group had been vilified online by activists for recommending books such as Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality by the journalist Helen Joyce and for expressing support for Kathleen Stock, the philosophy professor bullied for her views at Sussex University. Other “hateful” posts also called for her to be expelled from her university course.
The Students’ Union confirmed that an investigation was taking place into a secret complaint against the Feminist Society.
Claron, who has since graduated, said: “The behaviour of the Students’ Union towards us this year has been appalling, and if I hadn’t been in my final year, with otherwise very little to lose, I would have definitely felt coerced and threatened by the Students’ Union, especially their so-called investigation.”
The university said in a statement that it had nothing to do with the management of student societies, which was “a matter for the Students’ Union, which is an independent body”.
However, one staff member who spoke on condition of anonymity said there was a feeling among staff that the closure of the society was the latest example of the university’s “capture” by Stonewall.
This year Swansea University was placed 26th, its highest ranking yet, in the lobby group’s list of its 100 favourite employers.
The staff member said: “The university has effectively told women to shut up . . . a lot of staff members have been quietly whispering among themselves about how we have been captured by Stonewall.”
Cathy Larkman, of the Welsh branch of the Women’s Rights Network, said: “As an observer, you’d be quite entitled to suspect that the Students’ Union has taken whatever steps it could for women who believe in sex-based rights to be silenced.”
In a statement Esyllt Rosser, president of the Students’ Union, said: “All societies are expected to elect their committees through a fair and transparent democratic process. The Feminist Society were unable to form an elected committee following the 2022-23 elections and, as a result, the society was deemed dormant until a committee can be elected. The complaint refers to a separate issue of transphobia allegations made against individuals within the Feminist Society. This investigation is ongoing.”
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t feel in any way threatened or silenced by trans women, and I don’t get daily coverage in The Times
It’s amusing. Feminism gave birth to Transgenderism and now there is this conflict between many Feminist activists and many Transgender activists.
God damn this title.
Some members of the feminist society at Swansea Uni claim that the group has been purged by trans rights activists.
The wording of the title makes it look like it’s a definitively true statement that has been investigated. Not just something some people have said happened to them.
I’d imagine many of the feminists in the society were also pissed off at the anti-trans book recommendations. All the real-life feminists I know support trans rights and find the TERFs abhorrent and hijackers of the term “feminism”, as the whole point is supposed to be about equality for *all*.
i’m at swansea university: most of my mates thought the society was transphobic and most of this account comes from people who are more into the Student Union than I am.
At our uni, we hold democratic elections for committees to be appointed. The previous committee was recommending anti-trans literature, which most people within the society rejected. After the committee refused to back off with the stance, many people left the society. When elections came around, they were voted out for more trans-inclusive candidates, but the previous committee allegedly did not give up the social media accounts, which led to more people leaving and the entire society falling apart, and there were additional complex reasons why a committee failed to form.
The closure of the society was not because of any political stance of the University. The university is extremely hands off in most cases. In contrast to what these people claim (the salty people who lost elections because they were unpopular), the society was shutdown either due to low enough membership that the University no longer recognised it as a fully fledged society, or because it had extreme student-political instability, and was not worth the trouble.
A new feminist society will be formed with a cleaner slate and better handling of the democratic system.
I’ve never heard of a trans activist who wasn’t also feminist.
Transphobes claiming to be feminists however…
The times are getting even more preachy and right-wing. They are not impartial, they are egging on the culture war with grubby Murdoch at the helm.
> She and other members of the group had been vilified online by activists for recommending books such as Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality by the journalist Helen Joyce and for expressing support for Kathleen Stock, the philosophy professor bullied for her views at Sussex University. Other “hateful” posts also called for her to be expelled from her university course.
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Article contents:
*Lucy Bannerman, Monday September 05 2022, 12.01am, The Times*
Swansea University has been accused of “telling women to shut up” after its feminist society was closed down for apparently making book recommendations that upset trans activists.
Staff and women’s rights groups said it was shameful that students would have no women-only group when they began the new academic year, after the Feminist Society was quietly removed from university directories over the summer.
Abby Claron, the outgoing president of the society, said it had been “purged” by trans activists, as punishment for openly supporting women’s sex-based rights on Instagram.
The Students’ Union, which manages the university societies, insisted that the society was “dormant” because of a technicality relating to the election of its committee.
However, Claron denied the claim, saying that it was being used as an excuse to ban a society that did not conform with student activists’ beliefs on transgender rights.
She and other members of the group had been vilified online by activists for recommending books such as Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality by the journalist Helen Joyce and for expressing support for Kathleen Stock, the philosophy professor bullied for her views at Sussex University. Other “hateful” posts also called for her to be expelled from her university course.
The Students’ Union confirmed that an investigation was taking place into a secret complaint against the Feminist Society.
Claron, who has since graduated, said: “The behaviour of the Students’ Union towards us this year has been appalling, and if I hadn’t been in my final year, with otherwise very little to lose, I would have definitely felt coerced and threatened by the Students’ Union, especially their so-called investigation.”
The university said in a statement that it had nothing to do with the management of student societies, which was “a matter for the Students’ Union, which is an independent body”.
However, one staff member who spoke on condition of anonymity said there was a feeling among staff that the closure of the society was the latest example of the university’s “capture” by Stonewall.
This year Swansea University was placed 26th, its highest ranking yet, in the lobby group’s list of its 100 favourite employers.
The staff member said: “The university has effectively told women to shut up . . . a lot of staff members have been quietly whispering among themselves about how we have been captured by Stonewall.”
Cathy Larkman, of the Welsh branch of the Women’s Rights Network, said: “As an observer, you’d be quite entitled to suspect that the Students’ Union has taken whatever steps it could for women who believe in sex-based rights to be silenced.”
In a statement Esyllt Rosser, president of the Students’ Union, said: “All societies are expected to elect their committees through a fair and transparent democratic process. The Feminist Society were unable to form an elected committee following the 2022-23 elections and, as a result, the society was deemed dormant until a committee can be elected. The complaint refers to a separate issue of transphobia allegations made against individuals within the Feminist Society. This investigation is ongoing.”
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t feel in any way threatened or silenced by trans women, and I don’t get daily coverage in The Times
It’s amusing. Feminism gave birth to Transgenderism and now there is this conflict between many Feminist activists and many Transgender activists.
God damn this title.
Some members of the feminist society at Swansea Uni claim that the group has been purged by trans rights activists.
The wording of the title makes it look like it’s a definitively true statement that has been investigated. Not just something some people have said happened to them.
I’d imagine many of the feminists in the society were also pissed off at the anti-trans book recommendations. All the real-life feminists I know support trans rights and find the TERFs abhorrent and hijackers of the term “feminism”, as the whole point is supposed to be about equality for *all*.
i’m at swansea university: most of my mates thought the society was transphobic and most of this account comes from people who are more into the Student Union than I am.
At our uni, we hold democratic elections for committees to be appointed. The previous committee was recommending anti-trans literature, which most people within the society rejected. After the committee refused to back off with the stance, many people left the society. When elections came around, they were voted out for more trans-inclusive candidates, but the previous committee allegedly did not give up the social media accounts, which led to more people leaving and the entire society falling apart, and there were additional complex reasons why a committee failed to form.
The closure of the society was not because of any political stance of the University. The university is extremely hands off in most cases. In contrast to what these people claim (the salty people who lost elections because they were unpopular), the society was shutdown either due to low enough membership that the University no longer recognised it as a fully fledged society, or because it had extreme student-political instability, and was not worth the trouble.
A new feminist society will be formed with a cleaner slate and better handling of the democratic system.
I’ve never heard of a trans activist who wasn’t also feminist.
Transphobes claiming to be feminists however…
The times are getting even more preachy and right-wing. They are not impartial, they are egging on the culture war with grubby Murdoch at the helm.
> She and other members of the group had been vilified online by activists for recommending books such as Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality by the journalist Helen Joyce and for expressing support for Kathleen Stock, the philosophy professor bullied for her views at Sussex University. Other “hateful” posts also called for her to be expelled from her university course.
Apparently with good reason.