GENDER STUDIES
SPEAKING OUT
Yvonne van Dongen’s interview with Jill Abigail is excellent journalism, the synthesis of a remarkable New Zealand life interwoven with a very topical and timely issue – that of the rise of extreme gender ideology and its implications (Face to Face: Jill Abigail, November). I am very concerned about the issues raised in the article and agree with Abigail on all of them.
She states it very well. However, like many others, I am frustrated and truly alarmed by the unrelenting censorship of any discussion of the issues, no matter how valid or reasonably presented. This situation is now approaching the ridiculous.
When I learned of the Speak Up for Women Feminism 2020 event in November at Massey University, Wellington, I booked a ticket and made travel plans from Australia. I saw it as a unique opportunity to learn from a panel of internationally recognised experts and to discuss the issues in an open environment. I was not prepared for Massey’s reaction. University administrators denounced the event, after allowing the booking, provoking rather than calming extreme reactions from student activists. A petition with 6000 signatures against the event emerged. Massey then cancelled the booking, citing safety concerns, Safety? For whom? From whom? Bizarre.
I have no doubt this
