A school has renamed its 'mufti day' to 'be yourself day' after concerns the colloquial use of the Arabic word was culturally insensitive

In British usage, "Mufti" means "out of uniform". In Islam it is a title of a legal authority

Heretaunga College, in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, held its first 'be yourself day' last Tuesday after asking senior students to research whether 'mufti' was outdated.

Assistant Principal Matthew Lambert said while no formal complaints had been made over the use of the term, last year's head girl had questioned its appropriateness.

He said after hearing whispers other schools were planning to abandon the term, three head students were asked to research its origins and report their findings.

After months of consideration the college's Principal and executive group voted to ditch the Arabic word for good, deciding it could be offensive to staff and students.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9411201/School-renames-mufti-day-day-concerns-term-culturally-insensitive.html

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Broadcaster declares there is 'NO such thing as free speech in Australia' as it defends censoring comments left on a story about a transgender swimmer

Saying "nasty" things about transgenders blew their committment to free speech out of the water

The ABC has boldly declared 'there is no such thing as free speech in Australia' after banning users during a heated discussion about a transgender swimmer on the national broadcaster's Facebook page.

The strident declaration about free speech came after some users were kicked off the page over alleged transphobic and sexist comments.

A page moderator had earlier urged users to be constructive, not nasty, when commenting about an article about a transgender swimmer.

In the article, swimmer Cassy Judy said she became a target for 'hurtful' comments after McIver's Ladies Baths, in Coogee, banned pre-surgery trans women.

'I feel like it's given license to some people to come out and say things that are quite hurtful to trans women like myself or gender nonbinary people,' she told the ABC.

'Things like ... 'You are what's between your legs'.'

'For me, [the baths] was a place where I went before surgery just to feel accepted and included as a woman.'

An initial moderator post in the article thread asked people to avoid being 'nasty' in response to the article and warned that the page 'will not tolerate any transphobic or sexist commentary'.

'We will be hiding comments and banning users without further notice if you breach our terms'.

It posted a link to the terms, which under the heading 'ABC Online Communities' said it encourages 'rigorous debate and the sharing of diverse opinions' but 'expects community members to treat each other with respect and courtesy'.

The conditions also reserve the right to 'edit, remove or exercise its discretion not to publish' comments if deemed to 'violate laws regarding harassment, discrimination, racial vilification, privacy or contempt' or to be 'abusive, offensive or obscene; inappropriate, off topic, repetitive or vexatious'.

Later on Thursday, the page moderator stated: 'We have deleted and banned users as per ABC's Terms of Use' and again provided the link.

From there, the moderator's message became notably more strident, stating: 'FYI - There is no such thing as free speech in Australia.' 'Hate speech or transphobic comments will not be tolerated regardless if it's your opinion.' 'If it is your opinion than perhaps you need to educate yourself on equality, empathy and equity.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9404935/No-thing-free-speech-ABC-defends-censoring-feedback-transgender-swimmer-story.html

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My other blogs. Main ones below:

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS -- daily)

http://awesternheart.blogspot.com.au/ (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

https://heofen.blogspot.com/ (MY OTHER BLOGS)

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