Even feminists must not criticise trannies

Julie Bindel, feminist author and co-founder of the group Justice for Women, is no stranger to campus censorship. The National Union of Students (NUS) LGBTQ policy used to ban Bindel from speaking at any union event, based on her allegedly transphobic opinions; ‘Julie Bindel is vile’ was an official clause in the NUS’s LGBTQ strategy.

Bindel’s opinions caused a big stir in 2004, when she wrote that a ‘world inhabited just by transsexuals’ would ‘look like the set of Grease’. And, 10 years later - despite the fact that the official, NUS ban was eventually dropped - she is still the target of students’ union moral posturing.

This week was no different: Bindel was invited and then disinvited from speaking at a student-run event at the University of Sheffield. In an email seen by spiked, Bindel’s invitation was cancelled days after she had accepted. The reason? The invitation was found to be in breach of a Sheffield Students’ Union policy – which states that all union-hosted events must be ‘LGBT friendly’. A student council voted to stop Bindel from speaking.

It is exactly this kind of pre-emptive censorship that is maintaining a babyish climate at British universities. Students’ union policies are so concerned with attaining the moral high ground that they won’t even entertain the presence of those they disagree with – regardless of the subject.

But even if Bindel was invited to speak on trans issues, even if she turned up dressed as John Travolta, in homage to her much-abhorred article, she should be allowed to speak. A debate without opposing and strong opinions is not a debate; it’s a bore. Students should seek out enthusiastic and opinionated speakers. This, after all, is how opinions are formed and tested – through argument.

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