The UCL Libertarian Society advertised an event titled “Connie Shaw on Transgenderism and the Right to Offend: Beyond the Consensus” through a divisive Instagram post.
The post features President Samiksha Bhattacharjee seemingly questioning UCL’s trans-inclusive policies, stating, “Can I be a man? According to UCL, yes!”, while characterising Shaw’s ‘gender-critical’ views as her “[not believing] a man can be a woman”.
The society released a statement roughly 24 hours after the original post, expressing that “inviting a speaker is in no way an endorsement of their views”.
It should be noted, however, that LGBTQ+ advocacy non-profit GLAAD has attributed the term ‘transgenderism’ — as used in the event title — to “anti-trans extremists who seek to delegitimize and dehumanize transgender people by falsely implying that being transgender is an ideology rather than an identity”.
The post received significant backlash, with one student commenting: “Our university is meant to be a safe space for all its students. Using such inflammatory de-humanising language against trans people is unacceptable.”
Another student added: “Pretending this is a ‘conversation’ when it is blatantly anti-trans (your use of the term ‘transgenderism’ itself is disgusting) is infuriating and extremely disappointing to see from UCL. Shame on the [Students’ Union] for permitting such a hate-fueled event under the guise of discussion and debate.”
Bhattacharjee told The Cheese Grater: “Regarding "inflammatory" language, we maintain that discussing the tension between biological sex and gender identity is a legitimate academic pursuit.”
She added: “We use language currently found in public, legal, and academic discourse. While we acknowledge that organisations like GLAAD have specific stances on language, a university must be a place where the definitions of "ideology" versus "identity" can be interrogated through calm and civil dialogue, rather than settled by external advocacy groups.”
LGBTQ+ History Month? The Union responds
The event was originally categorised under the ‘LGBTQ+ History Month’ tag on the Students’ Union ‘What’s On’ calendar.
This was promptly removed by the Union, however, following an email from LGBTQ+ Network Social Secretary Danilo Paganelli flagging the tag as “inappropriate”.
Paganelli’s email also raised “massive concerns over this event due to the fact that it incites hatred and is transphobic, especially at a time where Trans rights are threatened”.
Responding to Paganelli in an email seen by The Cheese Grater, a member of the Union’s Societies team acknowledged that the tagging of this event as part of LGBTQ+ History Month was “inflammatory and potentially harmful”.
They simultaneously noted in the email that the Union “has a legal responsibility to facilitate these speaker events – including protecting speakers' right to freedom of speech within the law under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act.”
Bhattacharjee said: “On the "LGBTQ+ History Month" tag: this appears to be a misunderstanding. The tag was originally applied as the event discusses a topic directly related to the LGBTQ+ community. The society did not select this tag to provoke students; once the error was identified, it was corrected.”
The LGBTQ+ Network’s open letter to the Union
The LGBTQ+ Network committee later published an open letter demanding that the Union not facilitate the talk, deeming it “unacceptable for a Union that prides itself on 'inclusion' and 'equality'”.
“Shaw's views encourage division between students by encouraging the exclusion and fear of trans students. It promoted misunderstanding about what it is to be trans.
“The LGBTQ+ network has always been clear, trans people are not a threat to women. They never have been. What threatens women today is a number of things including inequality, abuse and stereotypes which also affect trans people. Our fight is the same. Women and trans people share the same struggles against oppression and the patriarchy. Cis women are not liberated from oppression until trans women and gender non-conforming people are too.”
About Connie Shaw and the Free Speech Union
The speaker Connie Shaw was notably suspended from Leeds University Student Radio in 2024, for her interviews with ‘gender-critical’ advocates — such as comedy writer Graham Linehan and detransitioner Charlie Bentley-Astor — on her personal podcast.
After this event, Shaw wrote that as a “gender-critical feminist … [she views] transgenderism as one of the biggest threats to women’s sex-based rights in the Western world” in a December 2024 article for Compact Magazine.
She also published an essay titled “Gender Madness at the University of Leeds” for ‘gender-critical’ comedian Graham Linehan’s Substack.
In the essay, she criticised the Leeds University Union’s gender expression fund (characterising their inclusion of chest binders as “promoting and funding self-harm”) as well as their advice for societies at the fresher’s fair to share pronouns and create inclusivity statements, repeatedly referred to trans women as “trans-identified/trans-identifying males”, and endorsed the widely debunked and stigmatising theory of “autogynephilic transsexuals”.
Since graduating with a degree in Philosophy, Religion and Ethics, Shaw has written for the Telegraph and Spiked, including an article defending a primary school teacher who was fired for telling Muslim students that Britain is a Christian country.
She has been an extensive collaborator on GB News, and has continued her ‘gender-critical’ activism by joining a call in King’s College London for the PATHWAYS Trial of puberty blockers to end. She has taken particular issue with ‘gender-critical’ voices being censored at universities like UCL.
Currently serving as their External Affairs Officer, Shaw is closely associated with the Free Speech Union (FSU), a self-described “non-partisan, mass membership, public interest body that stands up for the speech rights of its members and campaigns for free speech more widely”.
Founded by Conservative life peer Toby Young, the organisation has been involved with or supported legal action against Ofcom, the University of Cambridge, the University of Essex, and West Midlands Trains for suspending a driver for Islamophobic tweets related to COVID-19.
The FSU was also criticised for its hefty membership fees, in a Guardian op-ed that described Young as “the grifter who keeps on giving”.
Journalist Dawn Foster has similarly criticised founder Young for his “habit of conflating criticism with censorship and an attack on his freedom of speech”.
About UCL Libertarian Society
The Society describes itself as “a student-led platform dedicated to the exploration of individual liberty, limited government, and free-market economics”, arguing it provides a “respectful and intellectually stimulating environment for all students”.
Since being formally established in 2020, the Society was seemingly revived in December 2025 via an Instagram post.
Previous events have included an “informal "coffee-house" style briefing on the situation in Iran” and another titled “Should DEI Die? + Pub Crawl: This House Would Abolish Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Mandates”.
Protecting trans students: Is the Union doing enough?
LGBTQ+ Network Welfare Officer Joe Yiu Ip told The Cheese Grater he was concerned about the impartiality of the discussion, noting that “we have no idea about the actual content of the talk, whether there'll be a clearly moderated discussion.
“Of course, [the Network’s] view is that the event should be cancelled due to its current format.”
Separate from the Network, Ip personally believes that if the event were to run, it should feature “a format that ensures controversial speakers such as Connie Shaw are moderated, and that there are clear [measures to ensure] impartiality of the event, including a speaker from the other side of the argument and an impartial moderator.”
The Union currently allows societies to hire Impartial Chairs who are trained to “tackle challenging discussions and facilitate debate in respectful and inclusive ways”.
Ip added: “I understand the importance of free speech, and I'm not going to say that I want to completely de-platform people who host gender-critical views, but I believe that there is a certain way to go about it and it shouldn't be done this way, where students feel fearful of their safety on campus due to such an event.”
He elaborated on broader concerns regarding the welfare of trans students, explaining, “many [trans students] don't feel able to be open about their sexuality and gender, and I feel like this event will create more of that feeling for trans students that they can't be open to be who they are and feel safe in their educational environment.”
At the time of publishing this article, the event is still due to take place.
The Cheese Grater is awaiting the Union's response to the LGBTQ+ Network's open letter. This will be included once it is available.
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, support is available:
Read the UCL LGBTQ+ Network’s Wellbeing Guide here.
Mindline Trans+, a “confidential emotional, mental health support helpline and signposting service for people who identify as Trans, A Gender, Gender Fluid, Non-binary”.
Opening hours: every Friday from 8pm-11pm
Call on: 0300 330 5468
TRUK Listens, a trans support helpline run by Trans Radio UK
Opening hours: 8am-midnight, seven days a week
Call on: 0800 009 6640
TransActual, a trans-led and trans-run advocacy and education organisation “focussed specifically on working for trans adults in the UK”. A variety of resources and pathways for support are displayed on their website.
Additional reporting by Luke Breaban-Cook