Gender-critical academics are considered “transphobic” at nine universities in the UK, it has been claimed.
A report by the Committee for Academic Freedom (CAF), a group of academics worried about the erosion of free speech on campus, found that under definitions of transphobia in nine university policies, academics who believe that transgender women are not women are considered transphobic.
The universities named in the report include Imperial College London, the University of Aberdeen, the University of Huddersfield, Brunel University, Sheffield Hallam University, Leeds Beckett University, London Business School, Robert Gordon University and the University of Plymouth.
Sheffield Hallam University, for instance, uses a definition of transphobia that includes “denying their gender identity or refusing to accept it”.
The CAF report warned: “By defining gender-critical beliefs as transphobia, a university takes the view that gender-critical beliefs are wrong.
“The existence of such an official point of view must restrict freedom of thought among academics.”
It added that the policies make it “next to impossible for academics and students in those universities to freely explore and debate gender-critical ideas”.
The report found that all of the policies were the same or very similar to the definition of transphobia promoted by Stonewall, the LGBTQ+ charity.
