You don’t hear much about it, but there is a growing divide between the transgender community and feminists who adhere to the idea that biology matters and that being a woman is about more than declaring it.
At the University of Rhode Island, Professor Donna Hughes, who teaches women and gender studies, is now under fire for challenging the left’s position on the issue.
The school has found itself in a real bind over this.
Linda Borg reports at the Providence Journal:
URI embroiled in controversy over professor’s comments about transgender individualsThe University of Rhode Island is in the middle of a controversy pitting academic rights to free speech against a professor’s comments about transgender individuals that the university calls hurtful.Donna M. Hughes, a professor and the Eleanor M. and Oscar M. Carlson Endowed chair in Women’s Studies, wrote an online article that compared QAnon, a far-right conspiracy group, to what she calls “the trans-sex fantasy, the belief that a person can change his or her sex, either from male to female or from female to male.”URI, in a statement published on its website, said it respects the rights and dignity of each individual and group, but “does not support statements and publications by Professor Donna Hughes that espouse anti-transgender perspectives.”In an email response Thursday to The Journal’s questions, Hughes said she believes that a person cannot change sex.
Colleen Flaherty of Inside Higher Ed has more:
At Odds With Her University Over Gender IdentityThe University of Rhode Island is distancing itself from an endowed professor of gender and women’s studies who recently wrote about what she calls the “trans-sex fantasy.”“The ‘gender identity’ movement is canceling people’s free speech and academic freedom for anyone who doesn’t fall in line, speaks out in opposition, or even calls for the right to debate,” the professor, Donna Hughes, wrote in a recent essay for 4W, a “fourth-wave” feminist website. “People are losing social media accounts or being fired for ‘misgendering’ someone or not ‘affirming’ a person’s’ claimed ‘gender identity.’”In the meantime, Hughes said, “an increasing number of teens are signing-up for harmful treatments with no one, not even parents, being allowed to intervene.”Responding to criticism of the essay, URI this week released a statement saying that it “does not support statements and publications by Professor Donna Hughes that espouse anti-transgender perspectives and recognize that such discourse can cause pain and discomfort for many transgender individuals. The university is committed to transgender rights and the need to eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence aimed at transgender individuals and the LGBTQIA+ community.”
The essay by Hughes that is causing all the commotion is interesting. The first half is all about the danger of QAnon, and I won’t bore you with that, but the second half is about this debate over gender:
The political left is quick to denounce the campaign of disinformation that led to the Capitol riot on January 6. But fake news and harmful politicized beliefs leading to real harm are not solely a right-wing phenomenon. The American political left is increasingly diving headfirst into their own world of lies and fantasy and, unlike in the imaginary world of QAnon, real children are becoming actual victims.The trans-sex fantasy, the belief that a person can change his or her sex, either from male to female or from female to male, is spreading largely unquestioned among the political left.The trans-sex fantasy returns us to the question: “What is a woman?” Throughout history, through ignorance or malice, lies were told about women—about their intelligence, their morality, and their capabilities. These lies were used to deny girls and women a full spectrum of rights from advanced education, to the vote, to participation in sports, to living in safety. Women’s rights movements have called out these lies and worked for equal rights.
It’s fitting that Hughes says children are victims in all of this. Way back in 2015, Professor Camille Paglia made the same point, and even said indulging children in transgenderism is a form of child abuse. Watch:
In 2012, the Democrats based their national political campaign on a “War on Women” supposedly being waged by Republicans. Today, Democrats stand solidly in the camp of the transgender community. Women who oppose this are shunned or worse by the left.
Featured image via YouTube.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY