Monday, November 07, 2022



UK: Must not criticize transgender movement

Invited speaker says there are only 2 sexes. Academics disagree and try to stop speaker being heard. Donors disagree with the academics and support the realist speaker

Cambridge donors have warned they are considering pulling their funding after a college master boycotted a panel discussion with a 'gender-critical feminist', whose views she described as 'offensive, insulting and hateful'.

Some Cambridge alumni are threatening to stop donating to Gonville and Caius and have said they will urge their children not to attend the university after the college became embroiled in a free speech row, the Telegraph has reported.

It came after the head of the college Professor Pippa Rogerson and senior tutor Dr Andrew Spencer wrote to students telling them they would be avoiding a debate on gender ideology that was being attended by Helen Joyce.

Helen Joyce, an author and former Economist journalist, believes biological sex is binary and immutable and wrote a book entitled Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality which criticises the transgender rights movement.

The debate, hosted by professor of philosophy Arif Ahmed, sparked outrage among students, some of whom accused Dr Joyce of being a Terf (trans exclusionary radical feminist). Around a hundred protested outside the talk chanting 'trans rights are human rights'.

It was also condemned by the student union, who argued that the event would do nothing but 'contribute to the further alienation of trans students, to whom the university has a duty of care'.

But it was the intervention of Prof Rogerson and Dr Spencer, who described Ms Joyce's views as 'offensive, insulting and hateful to members of our community who live and work here', that has left some Cambridge donors feeling 'embarrassed, appalled and absolutely disgusted'.

One alumnus, Nick Sallnow-Smith, 72, who graduated from Gonville and Caius in 1973, told the Telegraph: 'With people like that in charge I will never donate again.'

The event, which was held last Tuesday, was also criticised by Cambridge's sociology faculty, who apologised for distressing students by circulating the advert.

A Cambridge University spokesperson said: 'The Department circulated a notice notifying students about the talk. The head of the Department later received complaints from some students opposed to the views of the speaker.

'An email was subsequently sent out to make it clear that the Department was neither actively endorsing or promoting the contents of the talk. There was never any attempt to either persuade or dissuade people from attending.'

In her book Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality, Dr Joyce argues that the trans lobby is trying to 'supplant biology', equating the movement to a 'new state religion, complete with blasphemy laws'.

However, Prof Ahmed defended the planned talk, saying Dr Joyce would be 'discussing important questions to do with sex and gender'.

He said: 'These are matters of great public interest on which it is very important that there is free and open debate. Anyone who would like to learn about Helen Joyce's views and her reasoning, and to discuss them with her, should feel free to come along. Everyone is welcome.'

He claimed that he had to smuggle students into the lecture hall where Ms Joyce was talking because they were 'afraid of ostracism by their student peers'.

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This Election Day, make every Democrat who harmed our kids’ education pay

As the pandemic moves further into our rearview mirror, there are some voices that want everyone to simply move on.

We will. But not quite yet.

Election Day Tuesday is the first real opportunity to hold accountable all the people who caused so much damage to everyone, all across society — but to children in particular.

Writing in The Atlantic, Emily Oster called for “pandemic amnesty,” arguing, “Reasonable people — people who cared about children and teachers — advocated on both sides of the reopening debate.”

This is simply not true. Those opposed to reopening schools were neither reasonable, as no amount of actual evidence could persuade them that schools were largely safe, nor caring about children.

At the top of the list of people deserving blame for the academic destruction we’re now uncovering is president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten. She treated our public schools as her personal fiefdom, and Democrats let her get away with it.

That last part is so important. Anti-child special-interest groups couldn’t have hurt kids the way the teachers unions did without the support of Democratic elected officials. They kept schools closed, and we will be feeling the repercussions of that for years. These politicians chose Weingarten over the children, and there’s no guarantee whatsoever they won’t do it again.

There were real villains of the pandemic, and none of those villains has apologized or repented in any way. So Oster’s “amnesty” for those who were so wrong for years is just not possible.

What is possible is electoral punishment. Every Democrat who listened to Weingarten as if she were some kind of authority and not just a thug using a calamity to collect riches for her members should be held responsible Tuesday. Every politician who urged lockdowns past spring 2020, when we knew their pointlessness and damage, has to be voted out.

Every elected official who forced masks on children while pooh-poohing the scarring it would invariably cause has to go. As late as last month, New York City children who hadn’t gotten the COVID vaccine could not participate in sports. Anyone who supported this barbaric targeting of kids must be held liable.

Oster’s piece served as a very timely reminder of what happened to our children. It brought up all the feelings of rage over the damage done to our kids. Forgive without anyone taking responsibility or apologizing? No.

On Election Day, parents should carry into the voting booth the anger they’ve felt for the last two years and take it out on the people responsible. Every Democratic governor who either kept schools closed or pretended it was out of their sphere of influence (a lie) has to go.

But it doesn’t end Tuesday. As every parent knows, punishment doesn’t work without accountability. If Republicans do manage to win the House and the Senate, they must hold hearings. The National Assessment of Educational Progress showed reading and math scores plummeted. We can’t just move on to other topics while our kids stay struggling like this.

Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser, said in February 2021 that schools couldn’t open unless President Joe Biden’s spending plan passed. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky — on the White House’s orders — allowed Weingarten to craft school-opening policies. All this has to be investigated and put on the record so that we never listen to any of these people ever again and take steps to keep them from power.

It starts with voting out every Democrat from top to bottom. Do it for the kids.

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'Stanford Hates Fun': Student group wants to sue school over restriction of free speech after displaying banners during a football game protesting the ban on collegiate fun like Greek life

A group of students at Stanford University say they plan to take legal action over the school's alleged suppression of free speech.

The potential lawsuit comes from a group that goes by 'Stanford Hates Fun,' which claims they were refused entry and had signage confiscated at Saturday's game over signs they were bringing into the stadium.

The group claims that the school implemented a 'significantly higher' number of security guards for the game and confiscated signs made by the student and even making some take off clothing with their battle-cry.

The security guards were also specifically placed at the student entrance of the stadium, they said in a press release shared by OutKick.

'On Saturday, November 5, Stanford Students were restricted from entering the football game with signs and banners saying Stanford Hates Fun, regardless of size and format,' the group said.

'Security also made the bizarre request of asking students to partially remove their shirts to confirm that they weren't carrying any signage under their shirts, most of whom had no signage or awareness,' the group claimed.

The students say that they specifically consulted the approved and permitted items list and signage was not against the rules.

When they were turned away or had their signs taken, they say they received 'different answers from different staff' over why they were being restricted.

'We therefore have reason to believe that these signs were prohibited specifically because of their content,' the group wrote.

'If it is the case that signs were prohibited based on content, we believe that to be a violation of Stanford's free speech responsibilities under California's Leonard Law.'

An article from the Stanford Daily, posted in May 2020, called the law a 'controversial' statute that 'extends some First Amendment protections to students at private colleges in the state.'

The group, who have previously brought signs to games, say that it was the university's desire to censor them.

Video of students holding up a sign that managed to slip through security's cracks show security guards descending upon the group.

The guards allegedly tried to tear the banner down but were unable to get through the students who were in support of the message.

At a game earlier in the season, Stanford's iconic Tree mascot was seen holding up the now-infamous sign alongside bandmembers who covered their instrument's with similar messaging during a halftime performance.

Earlier this week, officials announced that the student who dons the costume was suspended from the role until January.

Jordan Zietz was suspended by the Band Executive Committee 'because of his use of the platform for personal benefit without going through or inquiring about appropriate processes,' according to officials.

That handling of the Tree's message prompted many students to don 'Free the Tree' shirts to Saturday's game versus Washington State.

Additionally, some bandmembers reportedly decided to sit out of Saturday's halftime show after the decision made by the governing committee.

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My other blogs: Main ones below

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs

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