Edinburgh film screening no-platformed over ‘transphobia’

University reaffirms ‘commitment to freedom of expression and academic freedom’ following student protests and UCU’s call to cancel event

十二月 15, 2022
trans flag
Source: iStock

A planned film screening at the University of Edinburgh has been cancelled after students packed the lecture hall where it was being held.

Feminist and LGBTQ+ groups protested outside the building, according to local media.

The documentary, Adult Human Female, has previously drawn criticism among trans advocates for its allegedly “transphobic” stance. 

Two days ahead of the planned screening on 14 December, the University and College Union’s Edinburgh branch issued a statement saying it was “appalled” that the institution was showing the film.

UCU claimed the film “contained content that was a clear attack on trans people’s identities and not in line with Dignity and Respect policy”. The union said it previously contacted the university principal, Peter Mathieson, asking that he cancel the screening.

The incident is just the most recent instance of no-platforming in what has become an increasingly heated argument over trans rights and women’s rights at universities.

This October, a planned debate at an Australian university fell apart when its panellists pulled out over criticism of the event featuring “anti-trans” speakers.

In the UK, transgender disputes have threatened to split university unions, with gender critical theory and harassment moving up the UCU’s agenda even as it seeks to unite members around pay and pensions.

The 14 December screening was ultimately cancelled due to “safety concerns”, according to the University of Edinburgh.

“As part of our commitment to freedom of expression and academic freedom it is our duty to make sure staff and students feel able to discuss controversial topics and that each event allows for debate,” a spokesperson for the university said, local media reported.

“Given the size of our community, it is inevitable that the ideas of different members will conflict,” the person said. “We support the right of people to protest but expect that right to be exercised lawfully and peacefully.”

Reality Matters, the production company behind the documentary, has denied that its film is transphobic.  

pola.lem@timeshighereducation.com

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Reader's comments (9)

I wonder what there is in this film that is hateful? Oh, we can't tell because one group of people are dictating to us, again, how we should think and act. UCU should not be involved in such authoritarian abti-free speech, actions. To say transwomen are not women is not hateful. Biological women have many ecperiences that transwomen can never have. Why can't we just settle for the terms women and transwomen, acknowledge the differences and also accept there should be places that are women only, including toilets?
Hear, hear.
Do biology courses at the University of Edinburgh teach that transwomen are women?
This is a crass attack on academic freedom & debate.
How do you find out what other people are saying if you refuse to listen to anything beyond your own echo chamber? How can you convince anyone that your ideas have any merit whatsoever if you refuse to engage in debate? Why are people so scared of being offended? And yes, I do teach by the Socratic method :)
Hear hear
Hear hear
Nobody is trying to cancel trans women.why are they trying to cancel women?let's agree.women are women.trans women are trans.trans women could try to understand why biological women are nervous about sharing female spaces.how are we to know?if they look like men then they probably are.
"If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter". "If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be... If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind". "You cannot take away freedom to protect it, you cannot destroy the free market to save it, and you cannot uphold freedom of speech by silencing those with whom you disagree. To take rights away to defend them or to spend your way out of debt defies common sense".