Now academics are acting like snowflakes, too!

Lecturers wear ‘traffic light’ badges to signal who can and can’t talk to them

academics at a conference on transgender rights were given ‘traffic light’ badges to signal who could speak to them, it was revealed yesterday.

University researchers and lecturers at the one- day event could wear a badge marked with a red circle – which meant nobody should speak to them.

Those who were more open to contact with others could choose a yellow badge instead.

This meant that they would follow the approach adopted by the Queen at social occasions – people were allowed to speak to them, only if spoken to first.

a green badge signalled the wearer wished to speak with others and that anyone could approach them. conference organisers wore blue badges, showing they were there to help.

The traffic light system, intended to provide a ‘safe space’ for those who wanted it, was condemned yesterday as a threat to free speech and debate.

Professor alan smithers, of the centre for education and employment Research at Buckingham University, said: ‘Wearing badges to tell other people what you want simply dehumanises us. People come together at conferences to enjoy a rich and varied experience. Why should people be pushed into categories in this way?’

michael Biggs, associate professor of sociology at Oxford University, told The sunday Times: ‘in an academic conference in a university – where freedom of speech is fundamental – it is really inappropriate.

‘it suggests the normal discourse of intellectual life is somehow threatening to people’s safety. Being challenged makes you smarter.’

The conference, at Roehampton University, London, was billed as a response to ‘a series of attacks against the experiences and identities of trans people’, including ‘ rampant transphobia in UK feminist circles’. Transgender activists have slammed feminists such as Germaine Greer, who has openly questioned whether trans women are ‘real’ women.

The badges follow concern over ‘snowflake’ students who are said to be unable to cope with – and often object to – robust debate on sensitive issues.

a Roehampton source said it was ‘ important to make sure people felt safe and able to engage’. in a statement, the university said it was ‘committed to creating a working and learning environment that is truly inclusive, where people understand, appreciate and value the diversity of each individual’.