Setting Fire to Gender Rights
Feeding a Phoenix’s flames with your money is just burning your money.
In September 2019, 30 academics signed a letter written by Professor Kathleen Stock of Sussex University and published in the Times newspaper, condemning links between Stonewall and Higher Education in the UK. Professor Jo Phoenix and Dr Jon Pike of the Open University were amongst them, and it was in signing this letter that they first became aware of their shared views.
Kathleen Stock’s letter took issue with the role played by the Stonewall Diversity Champions Scheme, specifically their interpretation of the protected characteristic of ‘gender reassignment’.
Concerning Gender Reassignment, The Equality Act (EqA2010 Chapter 1 section 7) uses language that is outdated and unclear. This is what Stonewall have set out to clarify, via their Diversity Champions Scheme, a service available to organisations and businesses to gain accreditation demonstrating their commitment to LGBTQ+ equality, and giving them the fuller understanding that will protect them from misinterpretation of the Equality Act regarding gender rights. (See Taylor vs Jaguar Land Rover 2020)
EqA2010, Section 7 states: “A person has the protected characteristic of gender reassignment if the person is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning the person’s sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex”. This goes on to use the term ‘transsexual’, an outdated word likely to cause offence; the important point here is the definition of ‘protected characteristic’.
“A person is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone a process (or part of a process)”
It is clear that any stage of the process of transitioning, or being trans, is covered. It doesn’t specify a need to medically or socially transition.
It then goes on to say:
“purpose of reassigning the person’s sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex”
Again, we can see this covers, in ‘other attributes’, any part of a gender reassignment process. In this case we do need to read the term sex as including gender, as gender is an attribute of sex for any person; trans, non-binary, or in any way gender non-conforming.
Stonewall have clarified what Section 7 covers in a real and legal sense, as it will affect employers and organisations, and should be ignored at their peril. To object to organisations having an increased level of understanding simply because you yourself are uncomfortable about trans rights seems foolhardy at best.
Following their very public declaration of views in signing the letter from Prof Stock in September 2019, Prof Phoenix and Dr Pike have both said that they were surprised to encounter shock and hostility from their colleagues, and even a motion from their union (the UCU) branch to officially censure them – although this was ultimately not supported by the union central office. From this point onwards, they feel their relationship with their colleagues changed.
Shortly after the publication of Prof Stock’s letter, an open letter was published in response, also in The Times, this time from Dr Caroline Dodds-Pennock, stating support for transgender staff and students in Higher Education. This letter was signed by over 3600 academics, rising to a total of over 5000 before the option for signatures were closed. It’s hard to ignore the much clearer picture this gives of opinion within academia.
However, Dr Pike has said in interview with The Critic that following this, he and Prof Phoenix continued to be contacted by other academics who agreed with their gender critical views but were afraid to speak out for fear of censure from colleagues and amongst students. Dr Pike says that, as dealing with this began to affect the time they could devote to their own work, he and Prof Phoenix decided to set up the Open University Gender Critical Research Network.
Amongst the reasons given for starting this network at the Open University – and this was raised with a knowing chuckle in the interview: with Olivia Hardy for The Critic – was its lack of a physical student campus, (17 mins) meaning that students would not be able to organise or have anywhere to protest in a visible manner. “Imagine if it was a campus university the sort of picketing and disruption…” (18.10 mins) The fact that the Network’s formation could provoke a strong negative response was clearly known and understood by everyone involved.
The OUGCRN was launched at the end of May 2021, when most OU students were completing their final assignments for the year, and so were no longer checking the OU online social spaces. These are the closest thing the OU has to a campus, where information about the OUGCRN might have been disseminated.
It was seemingly also launched without any discussion with the Open University. During the course of my research, I have not been able to find anyone who knew it was going to happen, either among staff or students.
The group didn’t even have permission to use the OU logo in their branding, which they subsequently had to withdraw, until retroactively going through the official application process. Once they’d been granted permission to use the logo and the OU name, they got on with producing interviews, videos and social media posts under this banner.
The only official communication available from the Open University during this period were statements saying that the matter was being looked into, and reaffirming the university’s continued support for trans students and staff. Meanwhile direct appeals for information and protests by students and staff got little or no response.
In Dr Pike’s interview with The Critic, some importance was placed on this being the first gender critical research network in the UK. However, it has been mentioned, both in the Forstater Tribunal and the Millar case, that a network of gender critical academics already exists, run by Prof Stock – one of the affiliate members of the OUGCRN. It seems unlikely the OUGCRN founders would be unaware of this other network’s existence – although its importance may be open to question since it seems to consist largely of academics making anonymous complaints about the unfavourable responses of their colleagues and departments to their gender critical views, and being generally surprised that bigotry isn’t tolerated in academia.
So, having demanded the right to have a network where they can openly discuss views that seek to marginalise, roll back or even remove the rights of trans people and those whose characteristics are protected under EqA2010, Section 7 – and it should be noted, going against most organisation’s policies of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Gender Identity and Discrimination – it seems wilfully shortsighted to then be surprised at any negative response from colleagues, unions or the student body.
I’m unclear as to at what point Prof Phoenix was no longer working due to the effect on her health from all this – something I completely sympathise with, having left work due to ill health myself – but this is also something that occurred at some point between 2019 and May 2021 when the network launched.
However, on 22nd September 2021 she wrote a blog piece. saying that she was no longer prepared to be silenced or intimidated by her critics, and that she would be standing up for her views on gender and the OUGCRN. Since there had been several YouTube video interviews made by Prof Phoenix as part of the OUGCRN output by this point, and her social media activity had continued as usual, I’m not sure how this silencing took form. But this seemed to me very much the stance of someone girding their loins and taking the battle to the opposition. Indeed, Prof Phoenix has appeared at conferences and in interviews several times since, to state her position, and support others.
It was therefore something of a surprise to me to see her describe herself as still ‘too unwell to work’ on her recently created crowd justice page. I would never police anyone’s health, but surely you are either working, or you’re not working? And then, we get on to the meat of what the crowd justice page is about:
https://jophoenix.substack.com/p/on-launching-the-open-university
Prof Phoenix wishes to take the Open University to court for not protecting her from the reasonable, expected and obvious consequences of her own actions, and from the rights of her colleagues to reply to her statements about her beliefs with statements about their own.
If I go to work, and set fire to my desk, and then get burned in the fire, should I be able to sue my employer for not having protections in place to prevent me setting fire to my desk?
This madness seems to be catching. Crowd justice funders are now popping up as others try to sue their universities for not protecting them from the approbation and ostracism that has come from their own bigotry. If someone has genuinely harassed you personally, then of course you have a case to not only take to your university but to the police, too. If, however, you simply don’t like being called out as a bigot, and having your stance on equality, diversity and inclusion called into question – well, look at what you’re standing for. If you don’t want to be called transphobic, try not being transphobic.
And no. You don’t get to define what that is. That isn’t for you to do. You need to stop and listen to what trans people have to say, and you need to show them some respect. There is no ‘robust debate’ to be had over who they are and what rights they have. Those things are not up for question. You have a lot of learning to do if you want to be any useful part of the academic discussion around gender and the sexed body. Right now, you are doing nothing but detracting from it. Stop. Listen. Learn. Those are the keys to bring a good ally, and if you can’t do that, if you aren’t an ally, then what are you? Judith Butler has written an article in the Guardian. linking beliefs like transphobia to fascism. It’s a very important read. Transphobia is the first step on a path I don’t believe anyone ever intends to go all the way down. But people do. Sometimes good people too.
Trans people are my friends and my family. They’re just people trying to live their lives. Ordinary, everyday people of every type and kind you can imagine. They want nothing from you but the chance to exist in the world, as who they are, and get on with having an ordinary, everyday life. It will cost you nothing, but it will give them everything.
And, finally, don’t make this about being a woman.
This OUGCRN has been set up by two people, described everywhere as co-conveners. Where is Dr Pike’s fundraiser? Where is his objection to the harassment for his views, or is it only women who are deemed worthy of sympathy, who are weak enough to elicit support? Oh no! A woman is being harassed! Poor feeble-bodied creature. What can we do to stop this oppression that must therefore be driven by misogyny?
This is beneath you. This is my disappointed face. You are letting us all down, and you can do better than that.
