Prime minister Rishi Sunak has backed Kathleen Stock’s talk at the Oxford Union going ahead and urged students to engage with ideas they may disagree with.
Professor Stock is due to speak at the Oxford Union this evening, but her invitation has sparked a fierce backlash from students and Oxford University’s LGBTQ+ society.
Around 1,000 protestors are expected to line the streets this evening in Oxford city centre and the event has seen the university’s vice-chancellor professor Irene Tracey clash with students, after she said Ms Stock’s appearance was about defending “freedom of speech”.
Supporting the professor, who believes trans women are not women, the prime minister told the Telegraph newspaper that a “small” and “vocal” minority should not prevail in shutting down discussion.
He said: “A free society requires free debate.
“We should all be encouraged to engage respectfully with the ideas of others.
“University should be an environment where debate is supported, not stifled.
“We mustn’t allow a small but vocal few to shut down discussion.
“Kathleen Stock’s invitation to the Oxford Union should stand.
“Agree or disagree with her, professor Stock is an important figure in this argument.
"Students should be allowed to hear and debate her views.”
He added: “A tolerant society is one which allows us to understand those we disagree with, and nowhere is that more important than within our great universities.”
The Union is a debating society which is independent of both the university and the student union.
Matthew Dick, president of the Oxford Union, told the Oxford Mail recently that attendees will have an automatic right of reply if they ask a question and questions can be asked anonymously via an online form.
Welfare officers will also be at hand for those who find the talk uncomfortable and require help.
More than 40 academics sided with Professor Stock earlier this month, after they sent the Telegraph a letter, which included signatures from evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and theologian Professor Nigel Biggar.
The student union (SU) initially planned to ban the Union from freshers’ fair but it was forced to U-turn when the University reminded the SU of its free speech policy.
A new letter was signed by academics and students at the weekend which put forward the argument that Professor Stock’s invitation was not a free speech issue and it was claimed that withdrawing the invite “is not preventing them from speaking out”.
Professor Stock is soon set to appear on the documentary Gender Wars, which is set to air on Channel 4 on Tuesday at 10pm.
On the eve of her talk, Professor Stock was invited on to ITV’s Good Morning Britain and she reaffirmed her “commitment” to talking about gender identities.
She said: “Of course I am causing upset.
“The position I am fighting against causes a lot of upset: you’ve got male rapists in female prisons: that causes a lot of upset.
“You’ve got children transitioning, doing things to their bodies that they can’t take back: that causes upset to their parents.
“You’ve got huge numbers of women unable to talk about sex-based rights in their workplaces because they feel stifled: that causes upset.”
It is not certain whether there will be a police presence outside the venue.
Thames Valley Police has been approached for comment.
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