Open letter to Dr Buitendijk, VP of Imperial college
Open Letter to Dr Buitendijk, Vice-provost of Imperial College London.
From: Josef Willsher and 86 members of the university’s staff.
The letter was published in the university’s student newspaper 'Felix’.
We have no link to the publication, nor the list of signatories other than Josef Willsher, only the text below:
10 May 2019
Dear Prof. Buitendijk,
We represent members of the student and staff body at Imperial and we are concerned about your engagement with transphobic material and social media accounts. Specifically, we are writing to you about your previous following of Transgender Trend (@Transgendertrd) and others on Twitter and your engagement with some tweets which claim that provision of life-saving support and healthcare for trans children and teenagers is tantamount to abuse. Over the last month we have been communicating with you about our concerns, and are reassured that you have heard them and that the College is taking them seriously.
For trans students and staff within the Imperial College community these issues are important to address with immense care, as it impacts their ability to be open at work without fear of harassment, bullying, and harm.
In recognition of these challenges, the College Policy is significantly in support of trans individuals and makes the pledge “The College believes that, as a leading institution, it will benefit from employing trans people at all levels of responsibility, thus providing role models for staff and students who identify as trans.” Furthermore, the policy continues to state that there is a “Public Sector Equality Duty” which “gives public bodies legal responsibilities to take proactive measures to address equality.” As a senior figure within the college, it is likely that members of the college will look up to you and see you as a role model, and therefore to be in line with this policy it is important that you aim to act as an ally for the trans community.
We urge you to recognise that many members of the Imperial College community have deeply personal experiences with their gender. For many students, university presents the first opportunity for them to be themselves. The 2016 APS Climate in Physics Report addressed the impact on trans researchers and found “30% of trans individuals [...] characterized the overall climate of their department or division as uncomfortable or very uncomfortable.” and for trans individuals 60% had observed and 50% had experienced exclusionary behaviour. We must work to create an inclusive community for all our members, understanding the difficulties they face.
We understand you have unfollowed these accounts and appreciate the words of support you have expressed in meetings. We urge you and the college to publicly respond to the large number of students who have expressed concern over this issue and commit to further supporting the trans community at Imperial College.
We object to groups like Transgender Trend because their conception of equality excludes the most marginalised. We hope that as a member of the College community you can continue to work with members of the LGBT+ community and their allies within college to support trans-inclusive feminism.
Yours,
Josef Willsher