The University of Edinburgh said it was “disappointed” after it was forced to cancel screenings of a film that explores the conflict between women’s rights and transgender ideology.
Adult Human Female, an independent feature film by Reality Matters, was scheduled to premiere on Wednesday. Still, the University of Edinburgh canceled the event after transgender rights advocates protested outside the Gordon Aikman Lecture Theatre.
It’s the second time the screening has been canceled after Edinburgh’s UCU, a union of universities, canceled a similar event last December, saying it was “detrimental to the safety and wellbeing of LGBT staff.”
J.K. Rowling noted Wednesday’s cancellation and retweeted criticism from Kathleen Stock, an academic who resigned as a professor at the University of Sussex in 2021 amid the transgender rights debate.
An article on Deadline writes what Stock wrote in a message that Rowling shared with her 14M followers on Twitter, “UCU Edinburgh, helping stop the screening of a film on their campus. Academic freedom of thought is just of no interest to these people. They are a disgrace.”
Edinburgh University said: “At the University, we are fully committed to upholding freedom of expression and academic freedom and facilitating an environment where students and staff can discuss and debate challenging topics. We are disappointed that again this event has not been able to go ahead.”
Deadline continues to write, “In line with our commitment to fostering an inclusive, supportive, and safe environment for our whole community, we worked with the organizers and put measures in place to mitigate risks associated with the event. However, with protesters restricting access to the venue, safety concerns were raised should the event proceed. It was therefore decided that the screening should not continue.”
Adult Human Female, directed by Deirdre O’Neill and Mike Wayne, claims to be the first British documentary to explore “the struggle for women’s rights.” The filmmaker said: “At risk is safeguarding for children and young people, biological reality, reason, and even democracy. Reality denial comes at a price.”
Pink News, an LGBTQ+ news site, describes an adult woman as “anti-transgender.” Union UCU Edinburgh said the film was full of hate.
Below is the Twitter post shared by UCU Edinburgh.
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