Warwick University society criticised for Facebook poll asking if gender is binary
The Warwick University Student Union (Wiki Commons)
A society at the University of Warwick has been criticised for creating a Facebook poll asking whether gender is binary.
The Warwick PPL (Politics, Philosophy and Law) Society came under fire for reportedly asking followers: “Is gender binary, or it is a spectrum?”
The poll was taken down from the society’s Facebook page after students complained.
A complaint was also made by Warwick Labour to the Students’ Union.
The Student Union made an official statement calling the society’s poll “offensive and highly inappropriate.”
“Some issues are simply not up for debate, including the identity, existence and lives of our trans students,” they said.
The co-president of Warwick PPL Society told The Warwick Tab: “By publishing the poll we sought to facilitate rigorous academic discussion, and facilitate open, honest, and respectful discussion and debate in the comments below.
Many LGBT+ students face discrimination at university (Pexels)
“Free speech is something the PPL Society strongly believes in, and so the SU’s post has left us, among many others, disappointed.”
Discrimination against LGBT+ students
Earlier this year, a study revealed two in five LGBT+ students have hidden their identity on campus in fear they might be discriminated against.
According to figures released by Stonewall, around 42 percent of LGBT+ students said that they have hidden their gender identity or sexual orientation while at university in case they received a hostile reaction from their fellow students or teaching staff.
And a third of the 522 LGBT+ university students surveyed said that they have been targeted with abuse or negative comments because they are LGBT+.
Trans students appear to be faced with the most hostility on campus.
While almost a quarter of trans students (23 percent) are not addressed with their correct name and pronoun, seven percent have been physically attacked by another student or university staff member.
One out of seven trans students polled have considered dropping out of their course because of the level of harassment and discrimination they have faced.
