(LifeSiteNews) — The transgender movement has faced a series of losses in the UK over the past several years, including the ongoing impact of the Cass Review, the new proposed NHS guidelines restoring female-only private spaces, and the high court upholding a ban on puberty blockers for minors. High-profile opponents like JK Rowling have made it increasingly difficult to maintain control over the narrative. These losses have been significant and may indicate a highwater mark for the transgender agenda.
But as I’ve noted before, it is important that optimism be tempered with a clear-eyed recognition of just how thoroughly gender ideology managed to infiltrate every institution before that highwater mark was reached. There are plenty of progressive politicians who are still true believers; many police officers still taking orders from LGBT training sessions; and, of course, many teachers and academics still inculcating their students.
The battles that have been won are significant, but the war has just begun. Scarcely a single news cycle goes by without more evidence of that. A recent example is the expulsion of Connie Shaw, a third-year philosophy, ethics, and religion student at the University of Leeds, from her role as host of a student radio show. Why? Because despite Shaw’s feminist, pro-gay credentials, she also holds “gender critical beliefs” that the Leeds University Union claimed are a breach of their code of conduct.
According to The Telegraph, Shaw “oversaw student radio shows, including Woman’s Hour and LGBTQ+ Hour, as part of her LSR duties”; recently under her tenure, LSR’s station won “best student station” at the Student Radio Awards. On October 30, Shaw received a letter from the student union informing her that she was being investigated after allegations of failing to uphold “a duty of care to all society members” and violated the “values, ethos, and expectations” of the union.
In a December 9 column in The Telegraph, Shaw wrote that she was once all in on gender ideology and even policed the speech of others with great vigor. But at the university, she began to question why gender ideology appeared to boil down to the medicalization and social enforcement of gender stereotypes. She wrote:
It was a legal decision on the other side of the world that galvanized me to speak up. In August this year, a transgender woman from Australia won a discrimination case against a women-only social media app called Giggle for Girls, which was meant to be a safe space for women. In a landmark ruling by the country’s Federal Court, Roxanne Tickle, who identifies as a woman, was found to be a victim of unlawful discrimination after having her membership revoked. The app was ordered to pay her A$10,000 (£5,100) plus costs.
I had never felt so angry about something happening so far away, and decided I could not stay quiet any more. So I started posting on X (formerly Twitter) in support of Giggle’s founder Sall Grover. In September I launched my own podcast, but decided to keep it separate from LSR, where I was head of daytime radio, as I knew it would not go down well there.
For my podcast, a personal side-project, I interviewed a prominent “detransitioner” called Charlie Bentley-Astor. I also interviewed Graham Linehan, the Irish comedy writer who has been widely criticised for his gender-critical beliefs. A post I wrote about my own gender-critical views was published on Linehan’s Substack on October 29.
The storm broke the following day when I was informed by Leeds University Union (LUU) I had been suspended from LSR. A complaint had been made about my conduct and was being investigated. I wasn’t given much detail at that stage, only that the complaint related to my social media, Substack and media productions.
Shaw was interviewed as part of the investigation; despite the fact that she had even “deliberately appointed pro-trans rights presenters,” she was told that her other content “might make some feel excluded.” She was asked to explain “how I effectively supported trans people and their allies,” and despite Shaw stating that “I support everyone,” the investigation concluded that her online “conduct” had “brought LSR into disrepute” and recommended that she be “permanently removed” from the position.
Shaw could seek the position again — if she “produced a written apology and attended an e-learning course on online conduct.” In other words, if she reversed her position and submitted to re-education. Shaw noted that many students have told her privately that they support her, but that they don’t dare say anything publicly, which is of course evidence that the actions taken against Shaw are having precisely the chilling effect that the LGBT activists running the show intend them to. In the meantime, the Free Speech Union has appealed the decision.
Shaw’s story is yet more evidence that trans activists are still embedded in many key institutions, enforcing ideological conformity and doing their best to dislodge and penalize dissidents wherever they can. Shaw isn’t conservative by any stretch — she agrees with nearly all of the Sexual Revolution, and even she is considered “disreputable.” That’s a sign to social conservatives that we have a long way to go.
