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Open University forced to cancel conference following threats from the transgender lobby

The Open University was forced to cancel a conference on prison reform - PA
The Open University was forced to cancel a conference on prison reform - PA

The Open University was forced to cancel a conference on prison reform following threats from the transgender lobby, it has emerged.

Over a hundred delegates had already bought tickets for the two-day event in May, which was co-organised by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS). But earlier this month, attendees and speakers were notified that the conference had been called off.

The CCJS, an educational charity, has been accused of “transphobia” for its stance that transgender female prisoners should be incarcerated separately from female prisoners.

“The Open University faced quite significant pressure from transgender activists. They received a number of emails where some of the language was extraordinarily overheated,” a source told The Telegraph.

“They were effectively being threatened with demonstrations and disruptive activity, possibly in the conference hall itself, and some kind of picket line or protest outside the conference.”

Last month, the CCJS released a statement on transgender prisoners which said that prison service has “a duty to provide fair, decent and respectful provision for trans prisoners”.

It went on: “Given the current state of the prison system, in the case of trans women prisoners, we consider that this can best be achieved through the provision of accommodation that is separate from female prisoners.”

The CCJS statement was released following the case of transgender prisoner Karen White, a  convicted rapist and paedophile who was born a man but used a transgender persona to attack female prisoners in a women’s prison.The prison service has since apologised over failings in the case.

The organisation came under attack from transgender activists who claimed that their recommendations support “state-sanctioned murder”, a reference to the cases of transgender prisoners in male prisons who have committed suicide.

After the conference was announced, it is understood that activists who had targeted CCJS turned their gaze to Open University by threatening to disrupt the event.

All universities have a legal duty to uphold freedom of expression and speakers should not be banned because they “offend, shock or disturb” students, according Government guidelines published last month.

The higher education watchdog, the Office for Students, can intervene if there were a pattern of cases where there was evidence of a failure of governance on freedom of speech.

The CCJS said in a statement: “We are saddened to announce that the conference, Prison Abolition in the UK, planned for 23 and 24 May, has been cancelled.

“Unfortunately, one of our conference partners has, in recent weeks, been subjected to concerted pressure by those intent on disrupting the conference. In the circumstances, they felt they had no option but to pull out.”

The organisation added that the circumstances that led to the cancellation of the conference highlight “the deep need for a movement grounded in inclusive, respectful dialogue”.

Meanwhile a spokesman for The Open University said it cancelled the conference due to concerns that discussion “was moving away from its main, originally intended, focus – to debate the past, present and future of prison abolition”.

Dr Jane Hamlin, president of The Beaumont Society, a transgender support group, said that the experience of trans prisoners is varied.

“Some people accept the conditions they are in, possibly because they are not receiving abuse. Others have a dismal time because they receive abuse and sometimes violence,” she said.

“Clearly it’s a tricky situation. But we hope that where trans people want to get on and serve their sentence, they can be in suitable accommodation. If that’s a trans woman who doesn’t have a history of violence then they should be in the women’s estate.”