Donna Hughes seems to be a rare educator: A women’s studies professor who stands up for women.
Hughes, who teaches at the University of Rhode Island, attacked the LGBTQ agenda as harmful to women. And, she added, it’s a threat to free speech.
Predictably, proving her point, the university denounced one of its own.
Hughes wrote an opinion piece for the website 4W.pub, which is devoted to feminists.
She began her column by attacking “pure fantasy” QAnon, which she derided as “a body of disinformation and lies from an anonymous Internet source claiming that there is an international cabal of Satan-worshipping, child sex trafficking pedophiles (who sometimes eat children) controlling the world.”
Hughes then noted, “But fake news and harmful politicized beliefs leading to real harm are not solely a right-wing phenomenon.”
“The American political left is increasingly diving headfirst into their own world of lies and fantasy and, unlike in the imaginary world of QAnon, real children are becoming actual victims,” she wrote.
“The trans-sex fantasy, the belief that a person can change his or her sex, either from male to female or from female to male, is spreading largely unquestioned among the political left.”
Hughes added, “Men and boys have had no attack on their rights. The biological category of sex, particularly women’s sex, is being smashed. Women and girls are expected to give up their places of privacy such as restrooms, locker rooms, and even prison cells.”
“All references to women disappear into terms such: ‘people who menstruate,’ ‘people with uteruses,’ ‘a pregnant person,’ or ‘a birthing parent,’” Hughes wrote. “No such changes in terms are proposed for men’s bodies and anatomy. These redefinitions are hatred targeted at women’s bodies and their rights.”
Continuing, Hughes maintained, “On the left, the ‘gender identity’ movement is canceling people’s free speech and academic freedom for anyone who doesn’t fall in line, speaks out in opposition, or even calls for the right to debate. People are losing social media accounts or being fired for “misgendering” someone or not “affirming” a person’s claimed “gender identity.” In the meantime, an increasing number of teens are signing up for harmful treatments with no one, not even parents, being allowed to intervene.”
The professor then concluded, “At this point, other than the legal action on eligibility in female sports and the valiant alarm calls from radical feminists, there is nothing to stop the juggernaut of ‘gender identity’ from consuming an increasing number of young people. There are a growing number of girls suddenly deciding that the solution to their multiple social and mental health problems is the false and harmful belief that they are in the wrong body.”
In response to Hughes’ clear-eyed observation of the world around her, the university acknowledged that she had a right to speak out, but only to a limit.
In a statement, the school said it “respects the rights and dignity of each individual and group. The University does not support statements and publications by Professor Donna Hughes that espouse anti-transgender perspectives and recognize that such discourse can cause pain and discomfort for many transgender individuals. The University is committed to transgender rights and the need to eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence aimed at transgender individuals and the LGBTQIA+ community.”
There it is. The liberal canard that speech is violence. Notice that it had no problem with what she said about people who are prone to believe QAnon, arguably the most maligned people among us.
The administration said it “recognizes that faculty have the same rights, obligations, and responsibilities as other American citizens,” and that it “honors and respects the right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment for all citizens, including our faculty, without censorship or retaliation.”
However, the response added, “A faculty member’s First Amendment and academic freedom rights are not boundless, however, and should be exercised responsibly with due regard for the faculty member’s other obligations, including their obligations to the University’s students and the University community.”
The school concluded, “Faculty have a special obligation to show due respect for the opinions of others and to ‘exercise critical self-discipline and judgment’ and ‘appropriate restraint’ in transmitting their personal opinions.”
Hughes’ op-ed first appeared in February. The conservative website Campus Reform reported on the controversy on Monday, with a comment from Hughes.
“My aim was to interrupt false information that teens see on social media. It was not to criticize transgender teens or adults’ lives,” she told CR.
She also told the website that she has gotten positive feedback from students, alumni, staff, and faculty.
Yet, she said, “All of them are afraid to speak publicly. There is now a climate of fear, even among professionals, researchers, and professors. This indicates the nature of the transgender activism and demands. They are bullying administrators, who are caving-in to pressure instead of standing up for faculty members’ free speech.”
At least they didn’t fire her. But truthfully, do Universities know that they should uphold the right to free speech and not have “agendas” of their own? I thought Universities where people could have discourse of whatever kind on whatever subject. I think the remedy is to get federal funding out of all educational institutions forever.