The Staff Pride Network Committee had a blog here expressing their disappointment and worry about the appointment of the new Rector and the processes that led to this, but the University has required us to remove the blog due to their perception that drawing attention to Simon Fanshawe’s publicly available views on trans people (and… Continue Reading SPN Committee statement regarding the appointment of Simon Fanshawe to Rector of the University of Edinburgh

CW: transphobia, anti-trans violence Dear network members,   We wanted to reach out in solidarity with our trans & non-binary members this morning to acknowledge the harmful impacts of the actions of the Prime Minister and other parliamentarians yesterday. Rishi Sunak’s hateful, transphobic comments are despicable. Once again witnessing political point scoring in the UK… Continue Reading In solidarity with our trans & non-binary members

Rev Dr Urzula Glienecke (she/her)  (written 12th April 2023)    Just yesterday somewhere in the depths of the social media I saw a conversation between a mother and her trans son. It went something like this:    – Happy belated Trans Visibility Day!  – Yeah mom, it was last week  – 👀  – Mom, that’s not how… Continue Reading I See You: A Reflection on Trans Visibility Day

TLDR: We co-organised a protest with Cabaret Against The Hate Speech to take place when the screening of Adult Human Female was due to place. Our protest demonstrated support for trans rights at the University of Edinburgh in a peaceful and non-confrontational manner. We published a blog detailing all the reasons the film is anti-trans… Continue Reading Statement from Staff Pride Network regarding the protest against planned screening of Adult Human Female 

-anonymous queer, cisgender woman   The co-option of feminism as mechanism for attacking trans rights makes me sick. I do not recognise the questioning of gender identity as a valid form of academic praxis that is without harm. I don’t want to operate in an academia that condones academic methods that are rooted in colonialism… Continue Reading How about we stop attacking trans people and address the REAL inequalities in the system?

-anonymous bisexual cisgender woman   You may think from the discourse that there are at least 2.5 billion trans people, but the fact is in absolute terms there are far more women who look like me accessing women’s spaces than there are trans people who exist in total. The consequence of setting up gate-keeping around… Continue Reading Gate-keeping women’s spaces doesn’t protect women.

By a trans member of staff at the University of Edinburgh who has chosen to remain anonymous   In December 2022 the University of Edinburgh cancelled a planned screening of “Adult Human Female”, a film that has received criticism for its one-sided and inflammatory depiction of trans people, after protests that the event would “contribute… Continue Reading Is screening “Adult Human Female” an opportunity for respectful debate and discussion?

University of Edinburgh Staff Pride Network Committee  This response also has the support of UCU Edinburgh branch and University of Edinburgh Unison branch.    Free speech, academic freedom, freedom of expression. These are all phrases applied tactically to justify questioning the validity or the rights of people with marginalised identities. Most will be familiar with… Continue Reading Screening Adult Human Female at the University of Edinburgh: A response

Pictured: Anna Smith, Staff Pride Network Bookclub Coordinator   What does being visible as a lesbian mean to you?   In lieu of any formal events to celebrate Lesbian Visibility Week, one of our co-chairs and bi-rep, Katie, and our book group coordinator, Anna have had a virtual discussion (over email, fitting in between their… Continue Reading Lesbian Visibility: What does being visible mean to you?

by Anna Smith, Coordinator of the Staff Pride Network Book Club   As part of Lesbian Visibility week I thought I would compile a list of books by lesbian authors, with lesbian characters, or both. This list is by no means exhaustive or representative of the objectively ‘most notable’ works around; it’s simply a collection… Continue Reading Lesbian Visibility: Shining a Light on Lesbian Authors