Naturally Maryam is all over the UCL dustup.
Sex segregation not miscommunication
Sexual segregation at a UCL event is a scandal
Institutional incompetence or moral cowardice?
That one is a statement by the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain.
The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain was horrified to learn of sex segregation at an Islamist-organised event in University College London last weekend.
Whilst the behaviour of the organisers is wholly predictable (it has since come to light that UCL were repeatedly informed of their intention to segregate the audience beforehand), the university’s failure to uphold such a fundamental principle of equality as non-segregation is staggering.
UCL was the first university in England to be founded on an entirely secular basis and to treat women and men equally in admissions. At this point in time it is unclear whether the university’s complicity in enforcing a gender segregation policy was the result of institutional incompetence or moral cowardice. Regardless, UCL must realise that their reputation as pioneers of equality in academia now risks being reduced to tatters unless action is taken immediately to ensure that this is never allowed to happen again.
For more information, contact:
Maryam Namazie Spokesperson Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain
BM Box 1919,
London WC1N 3XX, UK
tel: +44 (0) 7719166731
+44 (0) 7719166731
email: exmuslimcouncil@gmail.com
web: http://ex-muslim.org.uk/
Islamist group banned from UCL for gender apartheid
Margaret Soltan at University Diaries also comments.
When people cave that easily – some American atheist waltzes in and gets pissed off, and the organizers act, well, like a bunch of women – they make it harder for everyone else to make the case that stashing females in the backs of rooms and making them shut their faces is an affirmation of their dignity.
I know, right? Sissies! But actually they didn’t cave, they only pretended to.
And Skeptical Science.
Who won the debate?
Clearly, without saying a single word, even before it had started, Hamza Tzortzis did not. The topic under debate was ”Islam or Atheism: Which Makes More Sense?”, so in just that context, when one side demonstrates that they are intolerant misogynists and willing to impose that by force upon others in the public space then they have instantly lost, because none of that makes any sense at all in the 21st century.
Just because they don’t want girl cooties? Where’s the misogyny in that?