‘Trans rights are human rights’: Protesters call for UCL to re-join Stonewall

On Wednesday 16 February, members of the LGBT+ Students’ Network and other supportive students protested outside Provost Michael Spence’s office during a meeting to discuss the university’s relationship with Stonewall. 

Image by Sarunyu Prutisart on flickr

Content warning: brief mention of suicide

The demonstration demanding to re-join Stonewall started in the Main Quad at 3:30pm, with over 50 students protesting and chanting with placards and speakers. 

It follows UCL’s decision to cut ties with Stonewall, which has already received significant opposition since its announcement on 16 December 2021. 

Protesters were calling for UCL to re-join the Diversity Champions Programme and the Workplace Equality Index to the chant of “re-join Stonewall or go to hell, no pride in UCL”. 

This protest is one of the several steps being taken to oppose the transphobia and queerphobia which has been strongly felt by students and staff at UCL. Indeed, despite the university having publicly reaffirmed its commitment to the rights of LGBT+ students and staff,  UCL’s decision to withdraw from Stonewall has been viewed by many as consistent with the rise of vicious anti-trans narratives across the UK.

The Campaigns Officer for the UCL LGBT+ Committee, before meeting with the Provost, incited the crowd to “scream as loud as you can as we are inside during the meeting to make sure that all our voices are heard.

“In the meeting with the Provost we are going to tell him how you all feel about this, and that as students at UCL we will not stand for this, we will not stand for any form of transphobia on our campus.”

Angel, the Students’ Union LGBQ+ Officer, said that the aim of the meeting is to “ask to re-join Stonewall as there is nothing else they [UCL] can do to replace that scheme.”
Frustration was voiced at the Provost’s attitude towards the meeting, as “he changed the meeting agenda last minute or added in people at the last minute, trying his best to stop us, but we are not going to let him stop us.”

“step in students, stand and fight, trans rights are human rights”

Nestram, the SU Trans Officer, shared with the crowd their experience with the limited powers of the SU to fight prejudice and bring about change to a system which they perceive as failing. During their time as Trans Officer, Nestram sat in countless meetings without ever making progress in the fight for trans rights, with suggestions such as gender neutral toilets and respect for students’ pronouns deemed as unrealistic proposals. Nestram tried submitting policies and encouraged other people to do so, but not one of them got through without the support of a Sabbatical officer.

“All my effort did nothing because UCL is fundamentally anti-trans. UCL wasn’t ready for an elective Trans Rights representative, because you don’t get to pretend to care about queer people and then vote against Stonewall. The toilets and the pronouns all pointed to what the Stonewall decision proved – that UCL does not want to commit to its trans students and staff in any way other than lip service.

“We are not fighting for something unreasonable or uncommon, we are fighting for something the vast majority of universities in this country already have. Nearly 80% of UK universities are already in the Stonewall Diversity Scheme, UCL is the minority in this case. 

“If the outcome of the meeting isn’t favourable to our community that will rest solely on the Provost’s shoulders. We are here in solidarity with the community, showing that they will not divide us. The real problem is the transphobia rooted in the framework of UCL by certain 10 year professors and members of management and administrative staff. 

“Re-joining Stonewall is not the end, it is the beginning, it is the start of a conversation, one in which we will push and be unapologetically ourselves until we are at a place where UCL is no longer anti-trans but anti-queerphobic.”

At 4:20pm, the protest moved from the main quad indoors.

Chanting “trans rights are human rights” and “say it loud, say it clear, UCL is anti-queer”, people made their way to the Provost’s office, which was guarded by four members of security.

Amelia, from the Trans Network, highlighted the impact that UCL’s decision has had on the community. 

“The rate of suicide attempts for trans people is 48%; if UCL is not prepared to re-join the Stonewall scheme, then they have to be prepared to boost the Student Support and Wellbeing services because it will need to support the students who are going to consider things a little bit more seriously.”

As the protest continued, and more and more people joined in, Pi Media spoke to some of the protesters. 

Mary, a UCL Student, said that “We are here shouting for solidarity and protesting for trans rights because UCL’s decision is absolutely preposterous. The students were not involved in the decision making, neither was the SU in any way, and the main reaction was shock.”

Joanne, a UCL alumni, pointed to the importance of seeing the university’s decision to leave Stonewall in the light of the transphobia that is going on in the UK at the moment across the political spectrum. 

“The reasoning that UCL gave about the scheme restricting academic freedom is absolutely nonsense. Stonewall is not a regulatory body, it’s purely advisory, and realistically the scheme doesn’t do that much at UCL, but leaving it sends a very clear message.”

Phoebe and Jasmine, second-year English Students, also feel that UCL’s decision to cut ties with Stonewall is “absolutely ridiculous”.

“University is supposed to be a place where people can come and be able to express their gender identity and their sexuality in a way that is comfortable for them without any kind of hate or scorn. For them to disregard people’s rights is disgusting, so disrespectful and out of touch.

“Part of the reason why I came to this university is because it is marketed as one of the most diverse universities in the country and it portrays itself to be so open and so welcoming, so this feels like we’ve been lied to. I am hoping that this helps Michael Spence realise that what he is doing is going to put people in danger. I don’t think he understands the gravity.”

Following the demonstration and a previous petition that reached more than 6,5000 signatures, Angel, the LGBTQ+ Officer, will further discuss UCL’s decision with the Provost on Wednesday 23 February. The conversation will be broadcasted live on Zoom between 5pm and 6pm, and previously submitted questions via a form will be answered.