More than 250 academics, including CAF Director Dr Edward Skidelsky, have signed a letter urging the University of Oxford to reinstate Dr Michael Foran’s lecture series after trans activists interrupted two events linked to his recent work on sex, gender identity and the legal tensions that have emerged between them.
The signatories include Professor Richard Dawkins, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford; Sir Bernard Silverman, a former chief scientific adviser to the government and emeritus professor of statistics at Oxford; Professor Ann Oakley, of Somerville College, Oxford; and Professor Emerita Anna Sapir Abulafia FBA.
Foran, an expert in equality law whose scholarship was cited in the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers, had been due to deliver four lectures on themes from his recently published book, Sex, Gender Identity and the Law.
Footage circulating online shows Foran being interrupted at two events. At the first, activists stood in front of his lectern and portentously informed the audience that he was a “bigot” who “masks his transphobia behind a thin veneer of academia”.
One of the protesters then declared: “If you are here in a critical capacity to challenge his ideas … that is not the same as refusing to platform him. He will not be convinced by your arguments. Please join me in walking out and refusing to platform this bigot.”
At the next lecture, the same two protesters again interrupted. Foran had already warned the Proctors – senior University officers responsible for upholding Oxford’s statutes and regulations, including its rules on freedom of speech and protest – that he would not continue the series if disruption recurred. Despite reportedly being informed that no further protest would be permitted, he was told shortly before the second lecture that a larger on-site protest was expected and that organisers would allow a planned “die-in”, a protest tactic involving participants occupying a space while lying on the ground.
That second event proved to be the last. Not unreasonably, Foran cancelled the remaining talks, saying the “escalating disruptive protests” had “undermined the academic nature of this series”. He later added: “In attempting to shame students into de-platforming these lecturers, they manifest the antithesis of what a university stands for.”
It is Oxford’s handling of those events, rather than the protests themselves, that has now drawn criticism from more than 250 academics. In a letter published in The Times, the signatories reserve particular criticism for the University’s Proctors, arguing that they permitted disruptive protests to take place inside the lecture theatre and failed to intervene when the events were interrupted. Noting that members of the Proctors’ office, including senior figures, can be seen in footage of the disruption, they conclude: “The proctors have enabled the exercise of a heckler’s veto.”
While recognising that students have a right to engage in peaceful protest, the signatories point out that this “does not imply a right to disrupt teaching or research”. They add that the Office for Students’ Regulatory Advice 24 makes clear that universities may regulate the time, place and manner of protests without thereby interfering with the right to protest.
The letter argues that the failure of the Proctors to uphold the essential functions of the University has created “a hostile and degrading environment” for both Foran and students attending the lectures. It also warns that the episode risks contributing to a chilling effect on discussion of sex and gender at Oxford.
The signatories call on the University to ensure that Foran’s remaining lectures can proceed and urge Oxford to provide additional training to Proctors “to ensure that they understand their duties”.
Speaking to The Times, an Oxford spokeswoman said that freedom of speech and academic freedom were fundamental to the institution, while adding that the University also supported the right to lawful protest and civil disagreement. So far, so anodyne, you might say. Encouragingly, however, she also affirmed Oxford’s commitment to working with Foran to explore how the remaining lectures might take place.
The full letter in support of Dr Michael Foran can be read here.
Academics and students who wish to add their names to the growing list of signatories may do so via the online form, which requires an ORCID identifier for verification purposes.