What motivated me to contribute to the University’s Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression Working Group? Those who recently answered the University-wide call to participate in the Working Group were asked a similar question. As the new Convenor of the Working Group, it seems only fitting that I also answer it. On the face of it, it is a simple question; in practice, it is complex for me to answer.
Since my student days, I have explored questions of identity through a study of religion, history, and education. Different community boundaries (with the concept of freedom featured) have been a common motif in this investigation. I continue to welcome opportunities to study, to learn, and to listen.
My academic interests have provided me with avenues to make meaning out of certain experiences in life. I’d like to share a few brief personal reflections which resonate with the theme of Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression.
I was a teenager in 1988. While I fondly remember this time for the luminous non-matching socks, 80s pop, and hair metal bands which were all en vogue, this was also the period of Section 2A (Scotland)/Section 28 (Local Government Act 1988), which prohibited local authorities and schools from intentionally promoting or teaching the acceptability of homosexuality. This was followed by the ‘Keep the Clause’ campaign in 2000 which I remember well; and not least the mobile billboard campaign van that passed me one day on the Mound in Edinburgh. Several years later, I would qualify as a Teacher and would reflect professionally upon this legal restriction on teachers’ professional judgement in the educational sphere.
As you may well know, curriculum today continues to be a dynamic and contested space in which teachers’ degrees of freedom around what they teach varies internationally.
As a gay man, I have worked overseas in places where LGBT+ relationships are criminalised. This has made me conscious of the legal protections that I experience at home in the United Kingdom. Unlike some in other parts of the world, I can exercise my freedom of expression by being open about my family without fear of the state or legal sanction. I feel deeply privileged to be in this position.
However, I have also experienced first-hand distress and unwanted publicity due to my exercising of these rights.
I remember an online petition of thousands against my (now) husband, a Church of Scotland Minister, and people from around the world passing judgment on our relationship through various online and offline channels. I was thankful to the Home Office for preventing a hate group from targeting my family. That said, there was still the domestic threat of far-right political activists who were ready to pick up the mantle. At different points, private security, engagement with the Police around safety, and modifications made to our home all featured. Media activity (newspapers, radio, television) at times felt like an avalanche; at other times, it was a slow burn which lasted for years.
As a private person, it would be an understatement to say that this took some adjusting to (although somehow, despite the challenging circumstances, there were also wonderful moments of hilarity and support, sometimes from the most unexpected of places, which also stand out in my mind).
These deeply personal experiences were highly formative. They have forged in me a sincere commitment to respectful dialogue, within the bounds of the law, with those whose views I disagree with. This, to me, is essential for democracy, communities, and society. In saying this, I cannot escape how hard this can be and how it can exact a (unequal) toll.
From discussions about my relationship on BBC Scotland’s Call Kaye, to the Church of Scotland’s General Assembly; through dialogue, people disagreed, thinking was challenged, and over time change and understanding occurred – albeit in some instances the understanding was to respectfully agree to disagree.
Othering is ensnaring. However, my experiences have led me to conclude that, with effort (and sometimes not inconsiderable effort), human experiences can resonate, and some common ground can usually be found upon which we can begin to build understanding. That, at least, has been my experience so far.
Mine is only one perspective and it may jar with yours. My thinking continues to evolve and change. I greatly value working in a learning organisation that affords me the opportunity to continue engaging and learning from other perspectives.
My hope is that over time, through the continued effort of the Academic Freedom Working Group and those who support it, we can harness our different experiences and perspectives to develop new, supportive, ways to enable all of our community to thrive; and to be a place where ideas flourish; and where dialogue is a hallmark of our endeavour.
Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression Working Group
The Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression Working Group is being refreshed in 2024 to build capacity and expertise to deliver a renewed remit. Four work streams and two task and finish groups will take forward the new priorities, as agreed by the University Executive. Thank you to all colleagues who expressed interest in joining the group to further this work. The process to select new members is now almost complete.
Stay up-to-date on the latest news and updates from the Working Group by subscribing to the new Working Group blog. Look out for further updates soon on the approach taken to populating the Working Group, which sought to be open, drawing upon expertise across the University, and focused on respectful dialogue. As the new workstreams get going, you can also find out more about their progress and expectations for what they aim to achieve over the coming months in service to our community.
Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression Working Group blog