Pictured above: Rachel Dolezal<\/p>\n
A leading higher education trade union in Britain has drawn criticism after supporting so-called trans-racialism, in which people can self-identify as another race.<\/p>\n
Last week, the Edinburgh branch of the University and College Union (UCU) wrote on social media to reassert its position in favour of \u201ctrans inclusion\u201d, saying that \u201cliberation cannot be built on exclusion\u201d.<\/p>\n
The post linked to a 2019 document<\/a> entitled \u201cUCU position on trans inclusion\u201d, in which the union argued for its members to be able to self-identify as \u201cbeing black, disabled, LGBT+ or women\u201d.<\/p>\n A staff member at Edinburgh University, who declined to be named out of fear of drawing the ire of the union, told<\/a> The Times<\/em> that the issue of trans rights was being \u201cweaponised\u201d in order to force out academics who fail to follow the party line.<\/p>\n \u201cThe branch is being used as a platform for an ideological crusade, with no resistance from University of Edinburgh management,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n The union said that it is committed to an \u201cintersectional approach within all its work.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe concept of intersectionality has at its core an understanding that within marginalised groups there are a number of different identities, such as white women, Black women, disabled women, cis women, trans women,\u201d the document explained.<\/p>\n \u201cListening and trying to understand difference within groups, from an intersectional position, is key to building the strength of the group as a whole,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n this baffling statement begins by boasting that the union has enabled people to self-identify as black and disabled and i\u2019m not sure it has. or should have. https:\/\/t.co\/sgXI1AUIX5<\/a><\/p>\n — euan mccolm (@euanmccolm) October 9, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n