Ex-Harvard professor says trans rights are ‘social contagion'
Prof Jimmy Doyle, 61, resigned from his role as a philosophy professor at the Ivy League university before claiming he'd spent five years 'self-censoring' his gender-critical views.
Taking to social media, Prof Doyle claimed he wasn't able to 'speak frankly with anyone for about five years', adding: 'And it'll be hard to forget the spectacle of this nation's intellectual elite enforcing moral auto-lobotomy as a condition of entry to polite society.'
He also accused the trans movement of being a 'social contagion', saying: 'This is easily the most extraordinary outbreak of mass irrationality I have encountered in my life, & it has permanently & profoundly altered my conception of human beings. Among young people it has provoked the most obvious social contagion since the Children's Crusade.'
The Children's Crusade was a failed popular crusade by European Christians during the summer of 1212 in which thousands of young people set out to reclaim Jerusalem from Muslim rule.
None of the participants ever reached the Holy Land, but according to the Britannica encyclopedia, it was arguably the first European youth movement and its religious fervour helped to initiate the Fifth Crusade of 1218.
Prof Doyle added: 'This is *not* a blanket condemnation of Harvard, who have treated me well. I'm talking about the idea, currently (I hope) dying on its feet, that men can literally be women, & its horrific ramifications, including male rapists in women's prisons & the mutilation & sterilization of confused gay & autistic teenagers.'
His comments come following a landmark Supreme Court ruling in April that the term 'woman' means a biological woman.
Now, he has told The Times that 'Harvard is just like a lightning rod for this kind of stuff', before accusing universities of 'doing a terrible job of creating safe spaces of intellectual inquiry'.
'They've done a terrible job of ensuring that what's supposed to be education doesn't slide into indoctrination,' he added.
The retired professor was raised in Liverpool and studied philosophy at the University of Cambridge before going on to complete a PhD at the University of Virginia. He took a number of academic posts both in the UK and the US before joining Harvard in 2015.
Andrea Brookes, a spokesman at the Beaumont Society, the largest transgender support group in the UK, said: 'Doyle is another in a line of educated people who believe that because they have an academic title they are entitled to spout off about something outside of their area of expertise and to make the most outrageous claims about educational establishments being captured or some such tripe.'
His comments come after Prof Kathleen Stock, a former philosophy professor at the University of Sussex, was hounded out of her job over her views on gender rights.
In March, the Office for Students watchdog imposed its highest ever financial penalty – £585,000 – after it was found to have 'failed to uphold' freedom of speech and academic freedom in her case.
Following the ruling, Baroness Smith of Malvern, the universities minister, said that higher education institutions must learn lessons following the record fine, and that universities have been put 'on notice' to uphold free speech following the treatment of Prof Stock.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
20 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Kamala Harris's stepdaughter says she has 'climate anxiety'... but fans spot detail that lays bare her hypocrisy
Former Vice President Kamala Harris 's stepdaughter has been blasted online for complaining about her 'climate anxiety' while also still using plastic bags. Ella Emhoff, a 26-year-old model and designer, shared a 'little check-in' with her TikTok followers this week, reflecting on how the past four years - and her stepmother's election loss - have sharpened her focus on the world around her. Environmental change, she noted, stood out as a major driver of the grief and overwhelm she's been experiencing. 'I think everything with the environment is really... f***ing getting to me,' Emhoff said in her video. 'I experience a lot of climate anxiety,' she added with an uneasy laugh. 'Like I think a lot of us do.' But her comments sparked a wave of backlash and accusations of hypocrisy, as she had been seen happily holding a plastic bag just the day before - a detail made all the more striking given her stepmother's previous push to ban single-use plastics. Kamala Harris first endorsed banning plastic straws during her failed presidential campaign during a climate change town hall meeting with CNN in September 2019. 'I think we should, yes,' Harris said when asked if she supported the idea. Just hours before her serious sit-down update, Emhoff posted a TikTok visiting a California-based thrift store, waving a plastic bag in the air while posing in front of the store's sign (pictured) However, when she launched her own campaign in 2024, she reversed her position and quietly dropped the proposed ban. Then, in January, fans expressed outrage after spotting Harris and her husband carrying plastic bags during a grocery store trip - similarly, branding the pair as hypocrites. The plastic bag stood in contrast to what the American would have perceived her to be: an environmentalist, given California's 10-cent fine on single-use bags and the long-term impact on the environment that plastics may pose. Harris' shock decision to walk back her controversial position proved to be an attempt by her failed campaign to make the Dem candidate seem 'more practical' on a host of issues. On Friday, Emhoff's nearly seven-minute video updated her 53,000 TikTok followers on her life since Donald Trump's landslide victory over her stepmom. She voiced her 'disgust' over the current state of global affairs, specifically citing genocide, the erosion of rights, loss of healthcare, and a pervasive sense of fear surrounding affordability and the livelihoods of everyday Americans. Emhoff then shifted her focus to her profound anxiety about the changing climate, admitting that although it's no laughing matter, the gravity of it often leaves her with nothing but a nervous laugh. 'It's scary, it is,' she said directly to the camera lens. 'All of these things are happening - and besides the small things we can do, and pushing for change and fighting and protesting - it's really hard not to sit in those moments where it feels so heavy,' she added. However, just hours before her serious sit-down update, Emhoff posted a TikTok visiting Remainders, a California-based arts and crafts thrift store. In the opening seconds of the clip, the 26-year-old model was seen outside the Pasadena store, waving a plastic bag in the air while posing in front of the store's sign. The video then cut to the store's interior, revealing rows of boxes filled with vintage and heirloom trinkets, before transitioning to Emhoff back at home, ready to share her finds with her followers. Sitting on her bed with her small dog resting behind her, she proudly displayed two bags full of treasures - one stuffed inside a plastic 'Have A Nice Day' bag. Meanwhile, her dog sported a leash fitted with - of all things - a green plastic poop bag. While some praised her for thrifting her supplies instead of supporting big businesses, many online quickly called out what they saw as blatant hypocrisy given her professed climate anxiety. 'Look at allllll the plastic bags,' one comment read. 'In fact, didn't you call for banning single use plastic bags, or was that just for everyone else but you?' Another comment said: 'You should probably not support a store filled with excessive plastic bins as shelves. It might worsen your climate anxiety. Not surprised one bit by the hypocrisy. People like you are truly doing a great amount of damage to our country. It's dangerous.' 'PRAYING FOR YOU THAT THE FALSE CLIMATE NARRATIVE ISN'T OVERWHELMING YOU,' wrote a third. But this isn't the first time Emhoff has been seen using plastic bags so casually. Many viewers were quick to call out Harris's flip-flopping on plastic use - all while criticizing Emhoff over the frequent flights taken by her stepmother and father. 'Please stop having your father and step mom fly private everywhere,' one angered user wrote under the model's video. 'It's giving me terrible climate anxiety,' they added, using Emhoff's own words against her. 'If not for them flying as much as they do privately, I believe the average temperature would be one degree lower.' Last month, Emhoff also shared a video of her farmers market haul - one that didn't exactly shy away from plastic use. She showcased two plastic bottles of tomato juice, tomatoes nestled in a small blue plastic container, fruit being taken out of plastic bags, and tofu wrapped in a sealed plastic package. Last year, she shared an organization video on Instagram, showing large plastic bags filled with dozens of skeins of yarn, which she unpacked and neatly arranged on her wall.
Daily Mail
20 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Kamala Harris' stepdaughter says she has 'climate anxiety'... but fans spot detail that lays bare her hypocrisy
Former Vice President Kamala Harris ' stepdaughter has been blasted online for complaining about her 'climate anxiety' while also still using plastic bags. Ella Emhoff, a 26-year-old model and designer, shared a 'little check-in' with her TikTok followers this week, reflecting on how the past four years - and her stepmother's election loss - have sharpened her focus on the world around her. Environmental change, she noted, stood out as a major driver of the grief and overwhelm she's been experiencing. 'I think everything with the environment is really... f***ing getting to me,' Emhoff said in her video. 'I experience a lot of climate anxiety,' she added with an uneasy laugh. 'Like I think a lot of us do.' But her comments sparked a wave of backlash and accusations of hypocrisy, as she had been seen happily holding a plastic bag just the day before - a detail made all the more striking given her stepmother's previous push to ban single-use plastics. Kamala Harris first endorsed banning plastic straws during her failed presidential campaign during a climate change town hall meeting with CNN in September 2019. 'I think we should, yes,' Harris said when asked if she supported the idea. Just hours before her serious sit-down update, Emhoff posted a TikTok visiting a California-based thrift store, waving a plastic bag in the air while posing in front of the store's sign (pictured) However, when she launched her own campaign in 2024, she reversed her position and quietly dropped the proposed ban. Then, in January, fans expressed outrage after spotting Harris and her husband carrying plastic bags during a grocery store trip - similarly, branding the pair as hypocrites. The plastic bag stood in contrast to what the American would have perceived her to be: an environmentalist, given California's 10-cent fine on single-use bags and the long-term impact on the environment that plastics may pose. Harris' shock decision to walk back her controversial position proved to be an attempt by her failed campaign to make the Dem candidate seem 'more practical' on a host of issues. On Friday, Emhoff's nearly seven-minute video updated her 53,000 TikTok followers on her life since Donald Trump's landslide victory over her stepmom. She voiced her 'disgust' over the current state of global affairs, specifically citing genocide, the erosion of rights, loss of healthcare, and a pervasive sense of fear surrounding affordability and the livelihoods of everyday Americans. Emhoff then shifted her focus to her profound anxiety about the changing climate, admitting that although it's no laughing matter, the gravity of it often leaves her with nothing but a nervous laugh. 'It's scary, it is,' she said directly to the camera lens. 'All of these things are happening - and besides the small things we can do, and pushing for change and fighting and protesting - it's really hard not to sit in those moments where it feels so heavy,' she added. However, just hours before her serious sit-down update, Emhoff posted a TikTok visiting Remainders, a California-based arts and crafts thrift store. In the opening seconds of the clip, the 26-year-old model was seen outside the Pasadena store, waving a plastic bag in the air while posing in front of the store's sign. The video then cut to the store's interior, revealing rows of boxes filled with vintage and heirloom trinkets, before transitioning to Emhoff back at home, ready to share her finds with her followers. Sitting on her bed with her small dog resting behind her, she proudly displayed two bags full of treasures - one stuffed inside a plastic 'Have A Nice Day' bag. Meanwhile, her dog sported a leash fitted with - of all things - a green plastic poop bag. While some praised her for thrifting her supplies instead of supporting big businesses, many online quickly called out what they saw as blatant hypocrisy given her professed climate anxiety. 'Look at allllll the plastic bags,' one comment read. 'In fact, didn't you call for banning single use plastic bags, or was that just for everyone else but you?' Another comment said: 'You should probably not support a store filled with excessive plastic bins as shelves. It might worsen your climate anxiety. Not surprised one bit by the hypocrisy. People like you are truly doing a great amount of damage to our country. It's dangerous.' 'PRAYING FOR YOU THAT THE FALSE CLIMATE NARRATIVE ISN'T OVERWHELMING YOU,' wrote a third. But this isn't the first time Emhoff has been seen using plastic bags so casually. Many viewers were quick to call out Harris's flip-flopping on plastic use - all while criticizing Emhoff over the frequent flights taken by her stepmother and father. 'Please stop having your father and step mom fly private everywhere,' one angered user wrote under the model's video. 'It's giving me terrible climate anxiety,' they added, using Emhoff's own words against her. 'If not for them flying as much as they do privately, I believe the average temperature would be one degree lower.' Last month, Emhoff also shared a video of her farmers market haul - one that didn't exactly shy away from plastic use. She showcased two plastic bottles of tomato juice, tomatoes nestled in a small blue plastic container, fruit being taken out of plastic bags, and tofu wrapped in a sealed plastic package. Last year, she shared an organization video on Instagram, showing large plastic bags filled with dozens of skeins of yarn, which she unpacked and neatly arranged on her wall.
BBC News
20 minutes ago
- BBC News
US in talks over 10% Intel stake, White House confirms
The White House confirmed on Tuesday that the Trump administration is working on a deal that could see the US government taking a 10% stake in chip giant Intel."The president wants to put America's needs first, both from a national security and economic perspective," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told potential deal could involve swapping government grants for Intel shares, according to US Commerce Secretary Howard move could help Intel as it struggles to compete with rivals like Nvidia, Samsung and TSMC, particularly in the booming artificial intelligence (AI) chip market. Intel has been contacted by the BBC for comment. The US wants a stake Intel in exchange for grants approved during the Biden administration, Lutnick said on CNBC on Tuesday."We should get an equity stake for our money," he added. "We'll get equity in return for that... instead of just giving grants away."The potential deal, which was first reported last week, aims to help Intel build a flagship manufacturing hub in the US state of Ohio. At the time, a White House spokesman told the BBC that the reports "should be regarded as speculation" unless officially week, Intel did not comment directly about reports but said it was "deeply committed to supporting President Trump's efforts" to strengthen manufacturing and technology in the Monday, Japanese investment giant Softbank said it would buy a $2bn (£1.5bn) stake in the announcement, Intel's shares rose by almost 7% in New York on Tuesday.
