Trans activists force closure of conference
THE Open University was forced to cancel a conference on prison reform following threats from transgender lobbyists.
More than 100 delegates had bought tickets for the two-day event in May. It had been co-organised by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS), an educational charity that has been accused of “transphobia” for its stance that transgender prisoners should be incarcerated separately from female prisoners.
“The Open University faced quite significant pressure from transgender activists. They received a number of emails where some of the language was extraordinarily overheated,” a source told The Daily Telegraph.
“They were effectively being threatened with demonstrations and disruptive activity, possibly in the conference hall itself, and some kind of picket line or protest outside the conference.”
Last month, the CCJS released a statement that said: “Given the current state of the prison system, in the case of trans-women prisoners, we consider that this can best be achieved through the provision of accommodation that is separate from female prisoners.”
The statement was released following the case of transgender prisoner Karen White, a rapist and paedophile who was born a man but self-identified as female and sexually assaulted inmates at a women’s prison.
The CCJS came under attack from transgender activists who claimed that its recommendations supported “state-sanctioned murder”, a reference to the cases of transgender prisoners in male prisons who have committed suicide.
The CCJS said in a statement: “We are saddened to announce that the conference Prison Abolition in the UK, planned for 23 and 24 May, has been cancelled.
“Unfortunately, one of our conference partners has… been subjected to concerted pressure by those intent on disrupting the conference. In the circumstances, they felt they had no option but to pull out.”
A spokesman for the Open University said it cancelled the conference due to concerns that discussion “was moving away from its main, originally intended, focus.”