Sign up to FREE email alerts from bathchronicle - Daily Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A psychotherapist said Bath Spa University is ‘suppressing’ important research after it vetoed his proposal into transgender reversal.

James Caspian’s initial proposal was accepted but when he widened the scope of his methodology he was told the university “sees no point in causing unnecessary offence”.

“Engaging in a potentially ‘politically incorrect’ piece of research carries a risk to the university,” a university ethics committee added.

“In a nutshell, they approved it, then as soon as there was mention of criticism on social media, they vetoed it,” Mr Caspian said.

He has received more than £3,000 from 86 backers and is prepared to take the case to judicial review if he is not successful in challenging the university.

Career

Mr Caspian has 16 years’ experience of gender transition and works at a private gender clinic.

The 58-year-old enrolled on the MA in Counselling and Psychotherapy after a colleague said he had recently carried out several reverse gender reassignment surgeries, and that it was an unprecedented phenomenon that had never been researched.

In December 2015 his proposal was approved by the Bath Spa University Ethics Subcommittee.

‘Atmosphere of fear’

Having struggled to attract enough subjects to talk openly about reversing surgery, Mr Caspian sought to change his brief to appeal for participants on extra forums.

“They said they felt too traumatised to talk about it, which made me think we really need to do the research,” Mr Caspian said.

His studies had also revealed a growing number of individuals who had undergone gender reassignment surgery and subsequently regarded themselves as being more closely aligned to their original gender and reverse transitioned without having reverse surgery.

Mr Caspian said he became aware of a number of biological women in the US who had undergone double mastectomies but refrained from using testosterone to de-transition.

In light of this, Mr Caspian told his tutor he wanted to post on the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) forum despite previous concerns that doing so would “draw the attention” of trans activists and put him at “risk of coming under attack for researching an area that is frequently dismissed and apparently politically incorrect to talk about”.

He noted telling his tutor: “Some transactivists on the WPATH forum have minimised and dismissed reversal and there is an atmosphere of fear around talking openly about developing trends in transgender amongst colleagues.

“My preliminary research had revealed a growing controversial schism in transgender politics and in patient experiences which greatly concerned me and confirmed the need for this research.”

Mr Caspian was told he needed to modify his ethics application and at this stage decided to include trans people who de-transition without reversing surgery into his study.

‘Risks are too great to the university’

The university’s Institute for Education ethics sub-committee, after discussion with the education Dean Professor Kate Reynolds, rejected his new proposal.

“This was further discussed with the Dean of the Institute of Education and the ethical approval form has been declined,” Mr Caspian was told.

“This is a complex project and the risks are too great to the university and the researcher.

“Working on a less ethically complex piece of research to complete the Masters would be more appropriate.”

The sub-committee added: “Engaging in a potentially ‘politically incorrect’ piece of research carries a risk to the university.

“Attacks on social media may not be confined to the researcher but may involve the university.

“This needs to be assessed by the University Ethics Committee.”

Reaction

Mr Caspian said he was astonished at the decision.

“I was, to put it bluntly, astonished that a university should censor a research project on the grounds that what people MIGHT post on social media may be detrimental to the reputation of the university,” he said.

“That would mean that students and academics are no longer free to discuss, dissent with, question, or examine critically material that may be challenging to someone, somewhere.

“Since I would argue that somebody, somewhere, will have a criticism of virtually any idea, situation or person that you care to think of, that would mean that the university could no longer function.

“This is deeply worrying, and of course is a topic already being written about in the media, usually because students have demanded the banning of topics they dislike.

“It is the first time I have come across an educational establishment pre-empting them in this tendency.”

Challenge

Mr Caspian’s tutor said he could re-apply to the university’s ethics subcomittee, a higher authority, as a kind of appeal.

His ethics application was declined again and Mr Caspian was told he could not revert to his original research proposal because it had been ‘superseded’.

“The Sub-Committee supports the Dean of IfE in declining this application,” it said.

“The student himself concedes a request to WPATH might cause offence and lead to him 'coming under attack'.

“If he is attacked then so is the university. We see no point in causing unnecessary offence and the student should rethink the nature of his thesis.”

Letter of complaint

On February 28, Mulberry’s Solicitors for Mr Caspian sent a seven-page complaint to the university.

The letter said: “The present dearth of research means that this group merit close attention so as to ensure the provision of further support in encouraging participation and taking steps to address their needs.

“The university is uniquely placed to ‘promote’ understanding... Instead, however, it has sought to suppress it.”

It adds: “Mr Caspian has no intention whatsoever of causing offence but instead wishes to pursue important research based on considerable expertise so as to assist vulnerable people.

“He hopes this can be achieved without recourse to judicial review but has no hesitation in adopting this course if necessary.”

Bath Spa University’s complaint probe is ongoing and the university said it could not comment.

Free Speech Matters

Mr Caspian notified the High Court of his intention to apply for judicial review pending the university’s findings.

He asked that the case be suspended until then so he could apply with the required timeframe but this was rejected.

“The High Court refused to do this and also refused me permission to carry on,” Mr Caspian said.

“Worse still, the court ordered me to pay the university's legal costs of £4,929 which I am contesting.

Mr Caspian set up a crowdfunding page, asking for £2,000 and receiving £3,135.

“If there is no satisfactory internal remedy to my complaint then we may need to proceed to reapply for judicial review,” he said.

He has since set up a Facebook page advocating the right for free speech.