Following the publication of the misleading and inflammatory statement by Swansea University’s LGBTQ+ Society condemning our event, we have written the following letter to the Chief Executive of the Students Union, Minkesh Sood, with a copy to Niamh Lamond, the Chief Operating Officer of Swansea University.

Dear Minkesh Sood,
We are writing to you in your formal capacity as Chief Executive of Swansea University Students Union. We require a response to this letter by 14 August 2023 and will be making this letter public in the interests of transparency and accountability.

As you know, we are holding an event at the Taliesin Arts Centre on 31 August, which is titled ‘On the Front Line of the War Against Women: the fight for our language, our boundaries, our rights’.

As you have noted in your own ‘Officer Comment’ published online, “the University has a statutory duty to ensure freedom of expression and freedom of speech the way in which the law defines it”.

We are writing today to draw your attention to the statement published on social media by one of your societies, namely the LGBTQ+ Society. This statement is, in our view, grossly irresponsible, discriminatory and inflammatory.

In addition, there are many outright untruths made within this statement, regarding both our position as an organisation, the views of our speakers and of the supporting organisations. We are informing you that we are currently taking advice regarding formal actions so that you have an opportunity to redress this immediately and to salvage your professional reputation.

We are surprised that this statement has been made in such an irresponsible and inflammatory way, using language and falsehoods that are likely to inflame what is already clearly a heated issue for some.

We refer here to the fact that, following your own statement, some unknown person(s) have seen fit to vandalise the Taliesin Arts Centre by painting the words ‘No Terfs in Tali’. You have not seen fit to condemn this criminal behaviour, and have sat by while a very inflammatory statement by your LGBTQ+ Society is made.

Dealing with the unevidenced and potentially defamatory assertions in the LGBTQ+ Society’s statement, we draw your attention to the following:

1. A claim that the event is ‘full of bigotry and hatred’
2. An assertion that one of the speakers has ‘actively called for the removal of trans people in everyday life’
3. Claims that another speaker represents an organisation that is a ‘hate group’, is ‘far-right’, and is ‘transphobic’. The claim is also made that this organisation has engaged in a campaign of harassment against another organisation. This claim is quite surreal, given that this speaker’s organisation was actually the subject of a protracted legal matter where the other organisation sought to remove their charitable status (and lost). This other organisation also being the subject of an investigation by the Charity Commission, after well- publicised serious safeguarding lapses.
4. A false claim that a women’s group supporting the event are an event ‘host’ and that they are ‘involved in protests against drag queen story hour’, when the position of that group has always been not to attend nor to encourage such protests due to any potential impact on children. This is therefore a blatant falsehood.
5. A claim that the same organisation is ‘involved in harassment towards students at Swansea University’. These claims are without any substance or merit and we invite the society to specify and evidence their assertions.

We are aware that a protest against the event is being planned. We recognise the right to protest lawfully and have no issue with this taking place. However, it is not acceptable to intimidate or harass those attending a lawful event.

The statement made by your LGBTQ+ officers will make this more likely and a responsible organisation would surely be reassuring their members, not filling them with rhetoric about ‘hate’ and feeling ‘unsafe’. We also point out that many of those attending this event are lesbians, gay or bisexual themselves.

You will be familiar with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010 and specifically the Protected Characteristics. You reference your commitment to upholding these Protected Characteristics in your Articles of Governance (SUSU_Full-Articles-of-Governance-Schedules-Amended-June2019.pdf)
including that of religion/belief.

‘Gender critical’ beliefs are protected and this is upheld in the case of Forstater vs CGD Europe (Maya Forstater -v- CGD Europe, Center for Global Development, Masood Ahmed – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary).

Swansea Bay Resisters state the scientific and biological reality of there being two sexes, and that sex is immutable. We have a right to express those views legally. We respect those who hold different beliefs and want to express their beliefs legally, but we maintain that they have no basis in objective reality.

For the purpose of accuracy, we want to inform you that your Articles of Governance state the Protected Characteristics inaccurately – you refer to ‘Gender’ and not ‘Sex’. These are not interchangeable terms, and the Equality Act already covers Gender Reassignment. The Act specifies ‘Sex’ and to be compliant with the Act we recommend that you and your trustees, who are legally responsible, amend this to the legally correct term.

We look forward to your immediate response. We expect that this will include a substantial correction and amendment to the statement of the LGBTQ+ Society. Not to do so will place you further in a position of reputational damage, as well as having knowingly permitted the publication of outright falsehoods and inflammatory language.

Yours sincerely,
Ali Morris
Chair of Swansea Bay ReSisters