Say NO to Transphobe Germaine Greer speaking at International Women's Day Brighton

10th February 2017

An open letter to Tanya Peters & Andrew Comben (Brighton Dome) & Brighton & Hove City Council,

On the 4th of March 2017 you are hosting International Women’s Day at the Brighton Dome. We celebrate any initiative that celebrates the lives of all women and the importance to fight against discrimination. It is great to see that the City Council and the Dome is taking a firm stand on women’s rights.

However, your decision to invite Germaine Greer as a speaker during the event directly undermines your attempt to support women’s rights. Germaine Greer has played a big part in the feminist movement and the fight for women’s rights, but her views on trans people (trans women in particular) have no place during an event with celebrates the rights of all women around the world.

Germaine Greer has been one of the most outspoken feminists of our time against trans women and their identities. To name a few, she has claimed trans women are simply men who dress up and pretend to be women and as they do not have the same reproductive organs as cisgender women, they can never fully be recognised as women. Germaine Greer continues to spout hateful comments towards trans people that fuel misconceptions, stigma, discrimination and violence against trans people.

Every year, Trans Pride hosts an event in Brighton aimed at raising awareness of the discrimination that trans people still face in the UK and to celebrate our society in all it’s wonderful diversity. The Brighton & Hove City Council has been very supportive of the event and has put their name to it as a proud supporter of trans rights. It is therefore humiliating and hurtful that the City Council would support a woman that has such hateful views towards trans people that directly harm and stigmatise them further.

Germaine Greer therefore has no place at an event that celebrates the rights of all women, as she directly advocates against the rights of trans women and trans people alike. Germaine Greer incites hate speech and violence against trans people with her words and giving her a platform at such an event is an insult to all trans women and trans people in Brighton and beyond.

We therefore demand that she will not be allowed to speak during this event. Not allowing her to speak at this event is not a limitation of her free speech - on the contrary it is an active stance against hateful and harmful views against trans people. Germaine Greer is one of the most influential second-wave feminists and her platform remains one of the biggest within the feminist movement. Her freedom of speech is not in the slightest limited by not being allowed to speak at an event in Brighton. It is a stance against hate; an active and a firm stance that transphobic views will not be tolerated by the Brighton & Hove City Council or by the Dome (Tanya Peters & Andrew Comben). 

Respectfully,

Fox Fisher  / Trans Pride Brighton & Hove