Oxford vice-chancellor gives her annual speech, which includes thoughts on the free kind.

Free speech has been centre stage this year. I have been clear about our role in the university sector to protect free speech: it is core to how we teach subjects and expose students to different views; and it also goes hand in hand with our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. I have publicly acknowledged that this means some legal free speech will be hard for some individuals to hear. However, I am also disturbed by what I witness as an amplification of discourteous, intolerant and hateful rhetoric on social media platforms under the guise of free speech. I was deeply saddened to learn of the abusive and threatening language and behaviours that our trans community suffered this year. We should have done more to support them; rest assured lessons were learned. In this University, I expect more and we will continue to strive to create a culture of tolerance and respectful disagreement on key issues of the day. That is how we learn together and evolve. 

Hm. She’s deeply saddened about abusive and threatening language and behaviours she claims their “trans community” suffered, but apparently not even shallowly saddened about the equivalent directed at women or feminists or “terfs.” The “trans community” gets a shout-out but the women’s community gets nothing. Why is that?

According to a survey of students and the public last year, conducted by King’s College London Policy Institute, while there is strong agreement that free speech is protected in universities, only 20% of those surveyed agree that universities should allow for all ideas and opinions to be expressed when it means that people feel threatened. This highlights one of the tasks we have: making sure that free speech happens within the bounds of civility, intellectual rigour and the law. So I’m grateful that colleagues from a few colleges, led by David Isaac, have created a toolkit in consultation with students with top tips for how to navigate free speech.

Well it’s clear that one way to “navigate” free speech is to be careful to say nothing the “trans community” dislikes. There is of course no such obligation when it comes to the female “community.” Badger and threaten and libel women all you like.