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| Transgender activists to protest against Germaine Greer lecture | Transgender activists to protest against Germaine Greer lecture |
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| Around a dozen demonstrators protested at a university lecture given by Germaine Greer after a fierce campaign to prevent her from speaking by critics who claim she harbours offensive views towards transgender women. | |
| More than 3,000 people have signed a petition arguing that Greer should not be allowed to appear at Cardiff University on Wednesday evening to deliver a lecture on women in political and social life because her opinions on trans people are so upsetting. | More than 3,000 people have signed a petition arguing that Greer should not be allowed to appear at Cardiff University on Wednesday evening to deliver a lecture on women in political and social life because her opinions on trans people are so upsetting. |
| Greer, who is being paid to deliver the lecture, had told the Guardian she would pull out if the university could not guarantee that people would not throw things at her but she has been assured that she will be safe. Security was tight as the lecture began with police positioned at the lecture theatre doors and bags being searched. | |
| Protesters included present and former Cardiff University students who criticised the institution for paying Greer. Mair Macey, a former student now working for HMRC, said: “Having Greer here reflects badly on the values of the university.” | |
| Greer was declining to do media interviews before or after the event and has requested that it not be recorded. It is understood that she is frustrated that a lecture that will not look at transgender issues at all is being overshadowed by the petition and protest. | |
| Payton Quinn, who is organising the demonstration, said Greer had made “incredibly inflammatory” remarks about trans women. The flyer features two Greer quotes from Guardian articles. In one she wrote: “Nowadays we are all likely to meet people who think they are women, have women’s names, and feminine clothes and lots of eyeshadow, who seem to us to be some kind of ghastly parody, though it isn’t polite to say so.” | Payton Quinn, who is organising the demonstration, said Greer had made “incredibly inflammatory” remarks about trans women. The flyer features two Greer quotes from Guardian articles. In one she wrote: “Nowadays we are all likely to meet people who think they are women, have women’s names, and feminine clothes and lots of eyeshadow, who seem to us to be some kind of ghastly parody, though it isn’t polite to say so.” |
| In the second, a news article written about the calls for the Cardiff lecture to be halted, she said: “I just don’t think that surgery turns a man into a woman. A perfectly permissible view. I mean, an un-man is not necessarily a woman.” | In the second, a news article written about the calls for the Cardiff lecture to be halted, she said: “I just don’t think that surgery turns a man into a woman. A perfectly permissible view. I mean, an un-man is not necessarily a woman.” |
| The saga has caused a fierce debate about free speech and the practice of “no-platforming” speakers who are unpopular with some. Quinn said she was frustrated that the free speech issue was overshadowing what she saw as the more salient problem: Greer’s views. | The saga has caused a fierce debate about free speech and the practice of “no-platforming” speakers who are unpopular with some. Quinn said she was frustrated that the free speech issue was overshadowing what she saw as the more salient problem: Greer’s views. |
| Tickets for Greer’s free lecture, called Women & Power: the Lessons of the 20th Century, were snapped up quickly. But Rachael Melhuish, women’s officer at the university’s students’ union, began a petition on change.org calling for the lecture to be halted and alleging that Greer had “demonstrated misogynistic views towards trans women, including continually misgendering trans women and denying the existence of transphobia altogether”. | Tickets for Greer’s free lecture, called Women & Power: the Lessons of the 20th Century, were snapped up quickly. But Rachael Melhuish, women’s officer at the university’s students’ union, began a petition on change.org calling for the lecture to be halted and alleging that Greer had “demonstrated misogynistic views towards trans women, including continually misgendering trans women and denying the existence of transphobia altogether”. |
| The petition states: “While debate in a university should be encouraged, hosting a speaker with such problematic and hateful views towards marginalised and vulnerable groups is dangerous. Allowing Greer a platform endorses her views and, by extension, the transmisogyny which she continues to perpetuate.” By Wednesday more than 3,000 people had signed it. | The petition states: “While debate in a university should be encouraged, hosting a speaker with such problematic and hateful views towards marginalised and vulnerable groups is dangerous. Allowing Greer a platform endorses her views and, by extension, the transmisogyny which she continues to perpetuate.” By Wednesday more than 3,000 people had signed it. |
| Asked about the petition last month, Greer told the Guardian: “I don’t really know what I think of it. It strikes me as a bit of a put-up job really because I am not even going to talk about the issue that they are on about. What they are saying is that because I don’t think surgery will turn a man into a woman I should not be allowed to speak anywhere.” | Asked about the petition last month, Greer told the Guardian: “I don’t really know what I think of it. It strikes me as a bit of a put-up job really because I am not even going to talk about the issue that they are on about. What they are saying is that because I don’t think surgery will turn a man into a woman I should not be allowed to speak anywhere.” |
| Of her critics, she added: “They think that they are entitled to throw things at me and then they say that I am inciting violence against transsexuals. I have never incited anyone to violence against anyone. I am just fed up with it all. It’s all just froth.” | Of her critics, she added: “They think that they are entitled to throw things at me and then they say that I am inciting violence against transsexuals. I have never incited anyone to violence against anyone. I am just fed up with it all. It’s all just froth.” |
| The university’s vice-chancellor, Prof Colin Riordan, said it was committed to freedom of speech and open debate. “Our events include speakers with a range of views, all of which are rigorously challenged and debated,” he said. | The university’s vice-chancellor, Prof Colin Riordan, said it was committed to freedom of speech and open debate. “Our events include speakers with a range of views, all of which are rigorously challenged and debated,” he said. |
| Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, has argued that the growing trend of “no-platforming” speakers poses a risk to the institutions’ “fundamental mission” by curtailing free speech. | Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, has argued that the growing trend of “no-platforming” speakers poses a risk to the institutions’ “fundamental mission” by curtailing free speech. |
| A counter-petition has also been launched by a Canadian woman, Diana Boston, who accused the objectors to Greer of making “slurs” against her. By Wednesday lunchtime almost 3,000 people had signed it. | A counter-petition has also been launched by a Canadian woman, Diana Boston, who accused the objectors to Greer of making “slurs” against her. By Wednesday lunchtime almost 3,000 people had signed it. |