A UCU member shared this account with me and kindly gave me permission to share it:

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UCU (the Universities and College Union) is the higher education sector union that represents academics as well as teaching and support staff in UK universities. On 26 May 2019, the UCU debated a motion at its national Higher Education Sector Conference calling for the union’s defence of academic freedom from harassment and intimidation. One would think it uncontroversial that this is the job of such a union. But the academic freedom in question related to people wishing to research, discuss, and debate matters of “sex and gender” free from harassment. A number of female academics have faced abuse, harassment, and intimidation that is well documented and was mentioned in the motion. This is because they hold a Gender Critical position on the matter of sex and gender, supporting sex-specific rights of females in certain contexts.

The motion was defeated 80 votes to 72 with 27 abstentions.

The arguments given from the floor for rejecting it ranged from the motion containing “dog whistles” and having transphobic “intent”, and transphobia, “sewn into the very fabric” of the text (though not expressed in the text itself, of course), to the repeated claim that these Gender Critical feminists were in fact calling for protection from criticism and protest rather than from harassment (despite what the motion actually said). It was also argued (without apparent embarrassment) that because the union already has a policy of defending academic freedom, delegates should vote against this motion (calling for the defence of academic freedom).