Juana Gallego, writer and lecturer at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona -Gender and Communication Master is under attack by students queer that before the start of the course they announced to the master coordinator that they would boycotted his lessons because of the ideas that he expresses in the media or on his blog. A story reminiscent of many other teachers - the most famous case being that of Kathleen Stock- removed from universities for their gender-critical positions. The question of censorship in academies we have spoken several times: see here e here, here and again here.
Spanish feminists in the network Confluencia Movimiento Feminista have issued a statement in support of Gallego -follows the translated text-: you can join the initiative by clicking here. "The feminist movement is already being persecuted in Spain despite the fact that the 'trans law' has not yet been passed. This law provides for sanctions, revocation of licences from those who dare to disagree on the basis of scientific and professional ethical criteria, as well as revocation of foster care and disciplinary sanctions for neglect to families and legal guardians of underage youth. It is a gag law that justifies the defamation, silencing, erasure and ideological and political persecution of feminists for speaking the truth about queer doctrine and transgenderism. Historical feminists such as Lidia Falcónfeminist writers such as Lucía Etxebarría and feminist professionals such as Carola López Moya have undergone and are undergoing cancellation and institutional harassment which are not permissible in a state under the rule of law.
In order to make this seem acceptable, the neo-liberal patriarchy has for years injected its propaganda in young people with institutional, financial and media support. He infiltrated the feminist movement to neutralise it from within. It dehumanised and stigmatised feminists. In short, exploited the weakness of the left plunged into postmodern identity politics and is increasingly unable to understand all the political dimensions of the global market.
L'assault on universities began long ago and the current generations of students and a large number of teachers blindly reproduce dogmas and anti-democratic strategies. The corruption of the objectives and functions of the Equality Units and Observatories, which had been set up to support the promotion of women in higher education institutions, reveals the level of ideological penetration of neoliberal patriarchy through queer doctrine and transactivism.
At the DoFemCo Conference last November, horrific testimonies were given of lecturers in Spanish, British, Canadian, Argentinean and Brazilian universities subjected to unbearable harassment against the silence of their institutions, to the loss of academic appointments and dismissala surrender to the intellectual orthodoxy of an student body that prevents, for example, defining an adult human woman as 'woman' or condemning the sexual and reproductive exploitation of women.
The Spanish feminist movement, organised and represented by dozens of organisations from all over the country, strongly condemns this ideological and political persecution and demands that the academic and political authorities, private and state, put an immediate and unequivocal end to this situation, consistent with scientific reasoning and a declared commitment to democracy and equality policies.
We also ask that the damage caused to the image and academic integrity of Professor Juana Gallego be repaired in the institution to which they belong, and that the climate of plurality, personal respect and intellectual debate essential for building and transmitting knowledge and for contributing to the improvement of society'.
To follow the text boycotting my person sent by the students of the master's course where I taught more or less the same subjects as Gallego -Philosophy and Ethics of Communication at the IUAV University of Venice. As can be seen, these are real photocopy texts, with the same charges formulated in the same language.
Following this letter IUAV invited me to resign, a request which I firmly rejected.
Dear Professor X,
and dear Professors Y and Z (who read us in copy),
I am forwarding this email on behalf of all of us students in the Master's programme in Communication Management and Cultural Policy.
We are puzzled by the appointment of Marina Terragni as the holder of the 'Philosophy and Ethics of Contemporary Information' course for the second module. In light of the reactionary and exclusionary positions expressed in many of his blog articles and public posts on its social pages, we say to each other opposed to this choice. We claim this opposition because we consider its positions not only far removed from ours, but more seriously offensive and irreconcilable with the project of IUAV and this master's degree. We need only mention the university's openness to careers with an 'alias identity', as opposed to theTerragni's opposition to 'self-id' and self-determination of trans people, but also unfounded criticism of queer theories, which we are happy to have included in the content of the master course. This choice threatens the integrity of a pathway explicitly linked to feminist, intersectional and queer discourses, e potentially challenges its classrooms as a safe space. We are prompted to say this first and foremost by Terragni's use of communication platforms, so central to this teaching.
We ask for explanations for this choice, with esteem and confidence in your judgement, but we support our position with equal conviction. We welcome your invitation to transformative thinking and practice, but this is not the direction in which we want the master to proceed.
Cordially,
the Master's Student Body
Marina Terragni
