Mick Hartley

Connie Shaw was suspended from her show on Leeds student radio for her gender critical views. Well of course she was. Here she is in the Telegraph:

My suspension from the student radio station did not exactly come as a shock. Someone had made a complaint about my “conduct”, I was told. An investigation had been launched. Why? Because outside of my work on the station, I had expressed gender-critical beliefs. My conduct online had apparently brought Leeds Student Radio (LSR) into disrepute.

I am a feminist, I believe in gay rights and I am not transphobic (though the word has become so broad and ill-defined, it is now applied to anyone who deviates from an agreed viewpoint, or even dares to raise questions or concerns). I believe in free speech and open debate – the sort one would hope to find at a university. My experience in recent weeks has proven how sorely this is lacking.

Originally an "inclusive" feminist, as all nice progressive feminists are supposed to be, she then started thinking for herself. Oh dear.

“It’s strange,” I told a friend. “As feminists, we’re trying to move away from gender stereotypes. So why are we now reaffirming them, rather than teaching children that whatever body they have, they can do what they want?”

Yep. That's it, in a nutshell.

It occurred to me then that the concept of switching genders relied on the reinforcement of gender stereotypes. It was this that planted a seed of doubt in my mind….

In September I launched my own podcast, but decided to keep it separate from LSR, where I was head of daytime radio, as I knew it would not go down well there.

For my podcast, a personal side-project, I interviewed a prominent “detransitioner” called Charlie Bentley-Astor. I also interviewed Graham Linehan, the Irish comedy writer who has been widely criticised for his gender-critical beliefs. A post I wrote about my own gender-critical views was published on Linehan’s Substack on October 29.

The storm broke the following day when I was informed by Leeds University Union (LUU) I had been suspended from LSR. A complaint had been made about my conduct and was being investigated. I wasn’t given much detail at that stage, only that the complaint related to my social media, Substack and media productions….

I’ve received a mixed response from my peers. A guy I was close to told me his friends had advised him he should stop associating with me (despite him privately sharing my views). Others have confided to me that they secretly agree with me but would never tell anyone else. Messages I’ve received from students at other universities indicate the same culture of fear has spread across many academic institutions. I’ve had support from some academics at Leeds, who share some of my concerns.

But there aren’t many other 20-year-old women saying what I am saying: that people can identify as whatever they like, but that policy should be on the basis of sex rather than gender; that men shouldn’t be able to enter female-only spaces just by saying they identify as female; that children who are most likely gay should not be encouraged to believe they have instead been born into the wrong body, and given puberty blockers.

It particularly upsets me because I fear gender identity risks erasing what it means to be gay or lesbian. I am labelled transphobic and this erasure, in my opinion, is inherently homophobic….

An LUU spokesman has said that “inclusivity is one of our core values, helping to ensure that everyone can enjoy their university experience, free from discrimination”. They say they can’t comment further, due to the ongoing appeal.

In the meantime, I want to use what’s happened to me to highlight the lack of freedom of speech at universities. I hope to encourage students to have more open discussions and not to react with disgust at the idea someone might disagree with you.

I want to break down the echo chambers I was once trapped in myself. In the future, I hope that when student bodies say they believe in free speech they really mean it.

A brave voice in a sea of timid frightened conformists.