Germaine Greer Censored from University for Making Anti-Transgender Comments

NEW DELHI: Reputed academic and feminist Germaine Greer has been barred from speaking at an event at Cardiff University after she said that transgender women are ‘not women’. She got herself embroiled in controversy when she said during an interview that ‘post-operative’ or long post-operative transgender, i.e. male to female ones, do not speak like women or act like women.

Women’s Officer at Cardiff University, Rachael Melhuish, filed a petition urging the University to not host Germaine Greer, who was due to speak on ‘Women & Power: The Lessons of the 20th Century’, as a result of latter’s standpoint on transgender people.

The petition read, “Trans-exclusionary views should have no place in feminism or society. Such attitudes contribute to the high levels of stigma, hatred and violence towards trans people - particularly trans women - both in the UK and across the world.

While debate in a University should be encouraged, hosting a speaker with such problematic and hateful views towards marginalized and vulnerable groups is dangerous. Allowing Greer a platform endorses her views, and by extension, the trans-misogyny which she continues to perpetuate.”

Women have accused Greer of inciting violence by making such statement, which Greer has rubbished as “nonsense” and maintained that it’s her opinion and said that, “there have many cases where transgenders don’t look like, sound like, or behave like a women after their transformation, but their dare not say so.”

“I’m not saying that people should not be allowed to go through that procedure, all I’m saying is that it doesn’t make them a woman,” she said at an interview to Newsnight.

The Female Eunuch author continued in the same interview to Newsnight saying that, “Just because you lop off your d**k and then wear a dress doesn't make you a ******* woman. I’ve asked my doctor to give me long ears and liver spots and I’m going to wear a brown coat but that won’t turn me into a ******* cocker spaniel.

I do understand that some people are born intersex and they deserve support in coming to terms with their gender but it’s not the same thing. A man who gets his d**k chopped off is actually inflicting an extraordinary act of violence on himself.”

The opinions expressed by Greer towards transgender have come at a time when the popularity of trans people is at an all time high, with Caitlyn Jenner, a recently turned woman from man, having being announced as the ‘Woman of the year’ by the Glamour magazine.