University of Melbourne academics clash over ‘transphobic’ website
A website created by a Melbourne lecturer has been slammed by global academics who say the site promotes “harmful stereotypes of trans people”.
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A Melbourne academic who started a website about transgender people using “women-only spaces” has been criticised for being transphobic.
The page, called ‘No Conflict They Said’, was launched this week by University of Melbourne political philosophy senior lecturer Holly Lawford-Smith.
It called for women to share stories on the page describing “how your use of women-only spaces has been impacted”.
According to the page, that could include encounters in places such as changing rooms, fitting rooms, bathrooms, rape and domestic violence refuges, gyms, schools and prisons.
Dr Lawford-Smith said the page was created in response to legislation being introduced that replaces sex with gender identity.
But the page has drawn a swift backlash and attracted criticism from several of Dr Lawford-Smith’s University of Melbourne colleagues.
An open letter describing the page as “transphobic” was signed by dozens of academics, including staff from the University of Melbourne and other universities in Australia and around the world.
The letter was shared widely on social media on Thursday night and was addressed to Dr Lawford-Smith’s bosses: the university vice-chancellor Duncan Maskell and dean of arts Russell Goulbourne.
Staff, students and NTEU members have drafted an open letter to the Uni regarding the website, incl concerns about the same staff member teaching a "Feminism" subject. You can sign the open letter here (link to view letter at top of form): https://t.co/L7uCzJXl64#stoptransphobia
— Hannah McCann (@binarythis) February 25, 2021
The letter was headed: ‘Stopping the promotion of transphobia at the University of Melbourne’.
The letter argues the stories shared on the site would “promote the harmful stereotype of trans people as predatory”.
“We strongly question the ethics of this website which appears ripe for promoting misinformation about trans people that may lead to further trans vilification”.
It said by setting up the website Dr Lawford-Smith “contravenes the University’s Appropriate Workplace Behaviour Policy and raises serious questions about research integrity at the University. We are also concerned that this content is being actively taught to students at the University and presented as ‘scholarly’ and conflicts with the faculty commitment to diversity and inclusion”.
The letter questioned whether the university could maintain a safe and productive environment for trans students and staff while the website was still up.
It’s not the first time Dr Lawford-Smith has sparked controversy, having previously attracted protesters to her academic talks.
In 2019, Twitter suspended her account for ‘violating our rules against hateful conduct’.
The University of Melbourne has been approached for comment.
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