Over the past few weeks, transphobic pamphlets have been appearing on noticeboards around campus.
One student has reported the pamphlets to Critic Te Arohi twice. Both times, the pamphlets were put up on the Hunter Centre noticeboard. On May 12 they said “we noticed some rather gross propaganda protesting against the upcoming bill around sex self-ID, it was the second time we’d seen something on the pin boards there. We were wondering if it’s been noticed anywhere else, or whether you have any ideas as to who is behind it.” It is unclear who is putting out the pamphlets, but whoever it is has now put the same pamphlets up three times after they were taken down.
This is part of a trend in New Zealand where TERFs (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists) are campaigning against the Self ID Bill which proposes to make it easier for trans people to officially change their gender. To protest this Bill, they spread misinformation about how trans people are dangerous or damaging to women. The pamphlets they put up are full of this kind of messaging. They are titled “Sex Matters: Say NO to sex self-ID,” and include comments like “Women are a fact, not a feeling.”
Property Services Division Director, Dean Macaulay, said that the University’s Facility Managers do not regularly monitor the content of noticeboards. “Our Facility Managers rely on building occupants to alert them to any sensitive material on the noticeboards that may need to be removed, and receiving your query has triggered that process,” Dean said.
“We have now checked all the Dunedin campus noticeboards for the posters — to remove them — but have not found any.” Dean encouraged students to contact the Uni about “any noticeboard material they deem insensitive or hateful.”
The student who alerted Critic to the pamphlets had also informed the convenor of the Hunter Centre and the Dean of the Medical School. “I’m hopeful that something actually happens,” they said.
If anyone knows who is behind these pamphlets, please contact critic@critic.co.nz