Content Warning: Transphobia
Last night a student came across a sticker in the women’s bathroom of the Union Building with the slogan ‘Women Don’t Have Penises‘. The student took to Twitter to state that she was disgusted and angry at the transphobic message being posted on campus and asserted that after taking a picture of proof, she had removed the sticker with the use of a debit card, and urged students to stay safe:
I found this sticker yesterday and.. I was disgusted and so, so angry. If you come across this let a sabbatical officer or @SUFemSoc know. I took a photo as proof it was there and removed it with a dedit card in case of sharps underneath the sticker. Stay safe and keep an eye out https://t.co/rjb6ARQjvC
— Daisy (@doisey) October 12, 2018
The incident has been reported to officials at the university and sabbatical officers are working on finding out who is responsible for this atrocity so that they will face appropriate repercussions. Both Student Union President Emily Dawes and VP Welfare Isabella Camilleri took to Twitter to state that this form of hate speech will not be tolerated at the university, urging all students to alert the sabbatical officers if they spot any more of the hateful and discriminatory stickers, as well as to take any stickers down if found.
Bit of sad news: if you see any transphobic stickers up around/in our bathrooms, please take them down and report the location to either myself (pres@soton.ac.uk) or @SotonVPWelfare (welfare@soton.ac.uk) so that we can follow this up further.
Transphobia is not tolerated here.
— Emily, Union Pres (@SotonPres) October 12, 2018
This is really disgusting and as Emily said we do NOT accept any form of harassment or hate crime. #ExpectRespect https://t.co/4wxPRr4H8M
— Isabella Camilleri #SotonFreshers (@SotonVPWelfare) October 12, 2018
Other instances of transphobic stickers around universities have been reported recently, as can be seen by the fact that on the 4th October, PinkNews, a publication focusing on LGBTQ+ news, reported that anti-trans stickers were plastered all around Edinburgh, including around the university’s Student Association.
Wessex Scene reached out to the Southampton University LGBT+ Society, who released the following statement on the issue:
We want to take this opportunity to reiterate that the University of Southampton and SUSU is a diverse community which prides itself on acceptance of people of all gender and sexual identities. Transphobic language and hate speech has no place on our campus and will not be tolerated. We would urge anyone who sees these images to report them either to the LGBT+ Society at lgbt@susu.org or directly to the SUSU president at pres@soton.ac.uk
Editor’s Note: This article originally referenced that similar transphobic paraphernalia had allegedly been put up elsewhere with razorblades behind them in order to avoid removal of the stickers. Wessex Scene would like to apologise for this prior reference and clarify that the British Transport Police investigated this incident and found ‘no evidence of this’, describing it as a hoax.
