Blog

Letter to the Metropolitan Police concerning the arrest of Hatun Tash

Hatun Tash, the evangelical Christian preacher and member of the Free Speech Union, was arrested at Speakers’ Corner on Sunday, the third time she’s been arrested in two years. She was dragged off by a group of police officers, taken to Charing Cross police station, strip searched, interviewed, kept overnight in a cell and then released without charge. To cap it all, the day she was released – Monday, 27th June – was the 150th anniversary of Speakers’ Corner. We have written to the Acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Stephen House, asking him to justify this appalling treatment and, if he cannot, to apologise to Hatun.

Letter to Nadim Zahawi MP and Michelle Donelan MP thanking them for introducing two vital amendments we campaigned for to the Higher Education Bill

We’ve written to the Education Secretary and the Universities Minister to thank them for introducing two amendments that we campaigned for – removing the caveat “within their field of expertise” from Clause 1, so the new free speech protections apply to academics regardless of whether their speaking or writing about something within their field of expertise or not, and making it harder for “security costs” to be cited by universities or student unions to justify no-platforming a controversial speaker.

Below you can read our original letter and the reply we received from the Rt Hon. James Cleverly MP.

Letter to the CEO of Cineworld concerning his decision to cancel The Lady of Heaven

We’ve written to Moshe Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld, about his decision to cancel all showings of The Lady of Heaven in response to protests from a small group of intolerant Islamic extremists. We have pointed out that this sets a dangerous precedent – will he grant the same veto power to far right extremists in future? – and asked him to reconsider his decision.

Letter to the Vice Chancellor of Loughborough University about the expulsion of Dr Jon Pike from a seminar for expressing gender critical views

We’ve written to the Vice-Chancellor of Loughborough University, Professor Nick Jennings, after our member, Dr Jon Pike of the Open University, was removed from a seminar on ‘trans inclusion in women’s sport’ for asking questions about the fairness of allowing biological men to compete against female athletes. Dr Pike is a world-leading expert in this area and his expertise has been sought by numerous international sports bodies. We consider this to be a failure of the University to uphold its obligations to academic freedom and freedom of speech, and an act of discrimination against Dr Pike on the grounds of his gender critical beliefs.

Letter to the Vice Chancellor of Aberdeen about the no-platforming of Alex Salmond

We’ve written to Professor George Boyne, the Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, about the no-platforming of Alex Salmond on 22nd April. Mr Salmond had been invited to speak at the Aberdeen University Student Golf Club, but the invitation was rescinded after student activists objected that because Mr Salmond is opposed to Scotland’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill – which will make it easier for trans people to change their legal gender – his presence on campus would make trans students feel unsafe. We believe no-platforming Mr Salmond was contrary to Scottish law, contrary to the University of Aberdeen’s own free speech policy and a breach of his right to freedom of expression under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Letter objecting to the Home Office asking its staff to state their pronouns in email signatures

We’ve written to Matthew Rycroft CBE, the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office, to complain about a directive to Home Office staff to include their pronouns in their email signatures. We are concerned that this instruction, which appears to be mandatory, is a form of compelled speech that violates the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion and the right to free speech (Articles 9 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights), and is a breach of the Equality Act 2010.

Letter to the Chief Executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital about the no-platforming of Helen Joyce

We’ve written to the Chief Executive of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust asking him to apologise to the author and journalist Helen Joyce after she was no-platformed at a one-day conference for trainee NHS psychiatrists about the treatment of adolescents with gender dysphoria. Dr Joyce was due to speak on one of the panels, but was disinvited after transactivists who were due to appear at the conference threatened to withdraw if she was allowed to speak. Dr Joyce is the author of Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality, a Sunday Times bestseller.

Below, you can read our original letter and the reply we received from Dr Anna Ferrant, Company Secretary for Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust.

Free Speech Union’s response to the Government’s consultation about banning conversion therapy

ITV News is reporting that the Government has abandoned its plans to pass a law banning conversion therapy. We wholeheartedly welcome this news and are publishing our response to the consultation (below) in which we urged the Government to ditch the poorly-thought-out and unworkable proposal.

Stop Press: The Government has decided it will pass a law banning conversion therapy after all, which is disappointing. However, it intendeds to exclude gender dysphoria from the legislation.

Do you agree or disagree that the Government should intervene to end conversion therapy in principle?

Strongly disagree.

As paragraph 5 of the Government’s consultation paper makes clear, there is an existing criminal law framework that prohibits offences of “physical or sexual violence”. Our concern is that “conversion therapy”, as currently under discussion, is too vaguely defined to form the basis of a new law and such a law would inevitably have a chilling effect on free speech.

We note with concern that any attempt to change “gender identity” (as well as “sexual orientation”) is considered a form of “conversion therapy”. Yet no attempt is made to define what “gender identity” means – a problem, given that it can mean different things depending on whether the context is scientific, medical, sociological or legal. Many legitimate activities – such as referring a young person with a history of mental illness who identifies as trans to a psychotherapist before they decide to have irreversible medical procedures – might fall foul of any legal ban on “conversion therapy”.

There is also a risk that affirming the self-diagnosis of a child who identifies as trans could in itself be a form of “conversion therapy” and fall foul of the ban. Where a young lesbian initially identifies as a man and later changes her mind, could she not urge the police to investigate the health care professional who affirmed her self-diagnosis and referred her to the Tavistock where she underwent life changing medical procedures on the grounds that this professional helped to “convert” her?

Our understanding of transgenderism is still in its infancy and we cannot rule out the possibility that in some cases identifying as transgender, or gender fluid, may be symptomatic of a mental disorder. Indeed, we note that “gender dysphoria” is included in the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the Bible of the American psychiatric profession. Clinical professionals have both a right and a duty to recommend what in their judgment is the best clinical pathway for a patient who identifies as transgender, particularly if that patient is a minor. It would be an infringement of the clinician’s right to free speech, and not in the interests of their patients, to legally prohibit one possible diagnosis and, in some cases, forcing them to break their Hippocratic Oath.
At the Free Speech Union, we are concerned that any new law will criminalise the expression of beliefs that do not comply with trans rights orthodoxy, as articulated by Stonewall and other organisations that claim to speak (wrongly) for the entire LGBTQ+ population. Others at risk of falling foul of the new law are persons, including clinicians, who are uncomfortable with the current fashion for encouraging trans children to embark on medical transition, as well as followers of the world’s major religious faiths.

Should the Government proposals strengthen the case for disqualifying any person with gender critical beliefs from holding a senior role in a charity, this also raises the question of whether charities can have religion- or belief-motivated charitable purposes or whether some charities – such as Christian Concern – will end up being investigated by the Charity Commission following complaints from trans rights activists.

Letter to the Provost of Worcester about ill-judged apology to students for allowing Christian group to hold conference on college facilities

We’ve written to Mr David Isaac CBE, the Provost of Worcester College, Oxford, asking him to retract his apology to students after they complained about the use of College facilities by the Wilberforce Academy, a summer school run by Christian Concern, and withdraw the ban he imposed on further bookings by the Academy. He apologised last year – and announced the ban – after students accused the attendees of the three-day event of “aggressive leafleting” and other misdemeanours, but an independent investigation carried out by a charity lawyer has found no evidence to support these allegations. You can read about our letter and the independent report in the Telegraph here.

Letter to the Vice-Chancellor of Cardiff about threats of violence against a group of our members at the University

We’ve been helping a group of academics at Cardiff who’ve been targeted and harassed for asking the University to look again at its membership of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions scheme. Cardiff has failed to take appropriate action, despite threats of violence against these academics, and has even misplaced evidence related to the case. The Free Speech Union has written to the Vice-Chancellor of Cardiff, Professor Colin Riordan, to ask him to set up an independent inquiry into the University’s failure to properly investigate the matter, and to present new evidence of the continuing efforts to threaten and intimidate our members.

Below, you can read our original letter, the reply we received from Professor Riordan on 28th March 2022 and another letter from us in response to Professor Riordan’s reply.