Professor Pippa Rogerson, the master of Gonville and Caius, and Dr. Andrew Spencer, the senior tutor, have criticized the impending college visit of Helen Joyce, the former Britain editor of The Economist.
They have warned students that they will avoid the conversation because Dr. Joyce’s opinions on transgender individuals are “offensive, demeaning, and hateful to members of our community.”
It is the most recent controversy involving freedom of expression on college campuses, in which speakers with opposing ideas are ignored or denied a platform.
The best-selling author of Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality is Dr. Joyce, who argues that biological sex is binary and immutable.
In her book, she contends that the trans lobby is attempting to “replace biology” and compares the movement to “a new state religion complete with blasphemy laws.”
Tuesday at the campus, the journalist will talk at a session titled “Criticizing gender-identity ideology: What Happens When Speech Is Suppressed.”
According to the Varsity student newspaper, Professor Rogerson and Dr. Spencer, writing to undergraduates in a personal capacity, claim they totally support the principle of freedom of expression but will not attend.
They say, “We have worked diligently and will continue to make Caius an inclusive, diverse, and inviting home for our students, faculty, and Fellows.”
We believe that events of this nature do not further this objective.
Caius should be a forum for the production and discussion of research of the greatest quality, as opposed to polemics.
Caius fellow and philosophy professor Arif Ahmed is hosting the debate at the institution.
Students are outraged by Dr. Joyce’s look, with some accusing her of being a Terf (a trans exclusionary radical feminist).
LGBT campus representatives have also criticised the feminist activist’s “trans-exclusionary radical feminism” and “anti-trans discourse.”
They stated that they were “unanimously disgusted by the promotion of such notions by Caius and the various faculties”
Professor Ahmed defended the planned presentation yesterday, stating that Dr. Joyce and Sir Partha will “address critical themes about sex and gender.”
He stated, “These are subjects of tremendous public importance for which a free and open debate is essential.
Anyone interested in learning about Helen Joyce’s beliefs and her reasons, as well as discussing them with her, is welcome to attend. Everyone is invited.
A spokesperson for Gonville and Caius stated that the institution “takes pride in being a welcoming and inclusive community.”
He stated, “The event on October 25 is an external event sponsored by Caius Fellow Professor Arif Ahmed.” Not a College-sponsored event.
“We support free speech and urge members of the College community and broader society to confront views they find abhorrent via debate and to celebrate our diversity.”