The GutterView Transcripts

Maya Forstater: ‘I am fighting for the right to say men can never be women’ Maya Forstater is at the centre of a fierce debate about transgender rights, with author JK Rowling rushing to her defence By Jane Gordon 23 April 2021 • 5:00am Maya Forstater: ‘I am fighting for the right to say men can never be women’  CREDIT: Delilah Maude Maya Forstater never expected to become famous, let alone infamous. Three years ago she was, in her own words, just a rather ordinary middle-aged, middle-class, working mother and wife. Opinionated, occasionally outspoken and politically engaged, she worked as a senior researcher at a prominent not-for-profit think tank, the  Center for Global Development  (CGD), based in Westminster, and had what she describes as an ‘active social-media presence’. Whether or not it was a little too active she is not saying (although she admits her husband probably thought so), but at the time that her life dramatically changed she was very vocal on...

“When designing the constitution, America’s founders feared democracy’s natural pitfall: the tyranny of the majority. They were leery of the ignorant masses and, originally, voting was largely restricted to landowners. But a competing danger — the tyranny of the minority — is arguably worse. At least when majorities tyrannise, a large number of people get what they want. In the West’s current frenzy of inclusivity it’s often majorities whose wishes are at risk of being ignored: most recently non-trans people, and in particular, “women”. If I can still use that word. Last week Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals (BSUH) NHS Trust delivered another blow to this once-straightforward class of humanity. Midwives were instructed to cease referring to “breastfeeding” and prefer “chestfeeding”. “Breast milk” was to be known as “human milk”, “breast/chestmilk”, or “milk from the feeding mother or parent”. Indeed, the latest guidelines suggest the word “mother” is best avoided. “...

Activist Marion Millar charged with sending homophobic and transphobic tweets A prominent feminist has been charged with a hate crime for alleged homophobic and transphobic social media posts. Marion Millar, 50, from Airdrie, was charged under the Malicious Communications Act for tweets published in 2019 and 2020. If convicted she faces up to two years in prison. The messages investigated by officers are understood to include a retweeted photograph of a bow of ribbons in the green, white and purple colours of the Suffragettes, tied around a tree outside the Glasgow studio where a BBC soap opera is shot. It is one at least six tweets reported to Police Scotland. The nature of the others is unclear. Millar, who owns an accountancy business, was bailed to appear at Glasgow sheriff court on July 20. Her supporters said that the prosecution was an attack on the rights of women to express themselves. Pale and visibly shaken, the mother of six emerged from Coatbridge police station after an i...

Groped student reprimanded for naming abuser  "A woman who named and shamed a fellow student after he allegedly sexually assaulted her has been punished by the University of Edinburgh. The first-year student, who has requested anonymity, posted a photograph and name of a man — alongside text messages he had sent to her — on social media, alleging that he groped her. She claimed that she had been left traumatised by the incident and insisted that other women deserved to be warned. The man at the centre of the allegations admitted that he had touched her inappropriately and claimed he had apologised for doing so. Despite this, the university launched an investigation which found the woman had harassed him. The female student has posted a copy of an email, which stated that she had been found guilty of misconduct. It stated: “The posting of a number of private messages between yourself and [the male student] on social media has had a significant impact on him and has resulted in him ...

 There is a culture of fear in universities, say ‘cancelled’ Jo Phoenix and Rosa Freedman Last week Jo Phoenix received a phone call from the vice chancellor at the University of Essex who wanted to personally apologise to her for an attack on her freedom of speech. Anthony Forster then picked up the phone to Rosa Freedman, one of the UK’s leading human rights lawyers, and said sorry all over again. Both Phoenix, professor of criminology at the Open University and Freedman, professor of law at the University of Reading, had been invited to give talks at Essex. But both had had their talks cancelled after they were accused of transphobia. Phoenix had also been the target of a flyer circulated by a student with an image of a gun and the words “Shut the F*** up”. “Anthony Forster said that he was very sorry both personally and on behalf of the university,” said Freedman. “But an apology is only the start. On its own an apology does not repair the reputational damage or distress caused...

Stonewall has been accused of misrepresenting the law in its advice to Essex University, which failed to uphold free speech when it dropped speakers accused of transphobia. A barrister, Akua Reindorf, warned of “potential illegalities” and said the university should reconsider its ties to the campaigning group. Her report was commissioned by Essex after two professors were disinvited from events. Stonewall provides expert advice to hundreds of organisations, including employers, schools, universities and police forces, through its “diversity champions” programme. Jo Phoenix, a professor in criminology at the Open University, was due to speak at a Centre for Criminology seminar on trans rights, imprisonment and the criminal justice system in 2019. After protests about her inclusion, the event was cancelled. Rosa Freedman, a professor of law development and global conflict at Reading University, was told she would be invited to speak at an event on antisemitism. She was dropp...