Maybe sex realists really are winning the gender wars. But for every two steps we take forward we are relentlessly pushed at least one back. The most recent victory in the war against common sense has seen the University of Sussex dodge a £585,000 fine over their free speech policies. The fine was awarded after Professor Kathleen Stock was hounded out of her job five years ago following sustained protests over her views on transgender rights and gender identity.

At one point, just to do her job, Stock had to appoint private security.

At one point, just to do her job, Stock had to appoint private security.

The Office for Students (OfS) spent three and a half years investigating the circumstances that led to Stock’s departure. Their final report is damning. It notes that the university’s ‘Trans and Non-Binary Equality Statement’ requires ‘any materials within relevant courses and modules [to] positively represent trans people and trans lives’ and makes vague statements such as ‘transphobic propaganda … will not be tolerated’. These requirements all effectively censored course materials and created a culture in which any expression of gender-critical thought was believed by many to be a disciplinary offence.

In the OfS’s own........

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