It has come to our attention that in November this year, Massey University is
hosting the event ‘Feminism 2020’ on its Wellington campus. The event is run
by Speak up for Women (SUFW) who advocate against trans rights and spread
scaremongering misinformation about trans people. SUFW masquerade under
the guise of feminism, while actively turning transgender lives into a subject of
debate; a dehumanising and harmful rhetoric.
Massey Students’ Association stands for free speech and we respect the right
of external groups to host events on campus. However, one of the key tenets
of free speech is recognising that marginalised groups often don’t enjoy the
same rights to freedom of expression. So with that in mind, Massey Students’
Association is choosing to prioritise the voices of our trans whānau who have
told us that this event hurts them.
By providing a platform for a hate group to speak on our campus, Massey
University is putting ‘freedom of speech’ over the safety of its staff and
students. Allowing this event to go ahead on campus will harm the trans
community both directly; with ‘Speak up for Women’s’ attempting to spread
their dehumanising ideology within our community and indirectly; by showing
our students that Massey University is providing a space for people to spread
hate and harmful anti-trans rhetoric. This is incredibly harmful to an already
vulnerable group, with 71% of trans people reporting high or very high
psychological distress in 2019’s Counting Ourselves community report.
Massey is not obligated to host and provide a platform for an intolerant
ideology that advocates for policies that make trans people feel less safe in
the world. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean that we have to host an event
that will cause harm to students on campus.
If the University is serious about wanting to protect the rights of their
transgender students there is no excuse in hosting this event. The student
community already feel less safe on campus because of Massey’s decision to
allow the event to go ahead. Within a few days of announcing the event, our
campus has been plastered with trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF)
stickers. MAWSA has met with UniQ and consulted the trans-community on
campus, and the message from the student community is clear; the presence
of this event on our campus is already damaging the wellbeing and safety of
trans, intersex and queer communities. To prevent further harm to our student
community, MAWSA requests, on behalf of Massey Wellington Students, that
Massey University cancels ‘Feminism 2020’ within the next 24 hours.
There is no room for hate on this campus. The group 'Speak up for Women' advocate against trans rights and spread scaremongering misinformation about trans people. SUFW masquerade under the guise of feminism, while actively turning transgender lives into a subject of debate; a dehumanising and harmful rhetoric.
By hosting the 'Feminism 2020' event Massey are providing a platform for hate and division to be spread here and make trans and queer people feel unsafe. This is incredibly harmful to an already vulnerable group, with 71% of trans people reporting high or very high psychological distress in 2019’s Counting Ourselves community report.
MAWSA is not in support of this and we stand with our trans community.
The effect of such an event has already been seen, with anti-trans stickers already being plastered around campus. Online hate has been spread, our trans students are being put in direct danger and we only see this getting worse if this event is not cancelled.
